With two defeats and ten goals conceded in their two previous league games, Leeds United are suffering from a brutal number of players out injured at the moment, such as Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford, Liam Cooper, Jamie Shackleton, Dan James, Rodrigo and Pascal Struijk.

This doesn't put them in a great place to take any points from their next two league games against an in-form Arsenal on Saturday and then against Liverpool on Boxing Day.

However, speaking in his latest press conference ahead of the weekend clash against the north London club, Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa dropped some news that will surely please a lot of fans.

What's the latest?

Bielsa revealed that defender Robin Koch is back in contention to be involved in the game on Saturday after being out of action since August with an injury to his pubis bone.

Given the injuries to Cooper, Shackleton and Struijk, it seems to be an ideal time for Koch to come back into the team and help them strengthen up at the back after their recent defeats and the manner in which they conceded seven goals against Manchester City last time out.

Since joining the Yorkshire club back in the 2020 summer transfer window from German club SC Freiburg on a four-year deal, the 25-year-old, who is currently valued at £15.3m according to Transfermarkt, has made just 18 appearances for Leeds across all competitions after struggling with a knee injury that kept him out of action for a large chunk of last season.

In the league games he did appear in last term though, Koch showed just what a useful defensive figure he can be for the team and why the club chose to sign him in the first place by racking up an average of 1.8 clearances per game, 1.6 tackles and 1.6 interceptions as well as winning 58% of the duels he was involved in.

To put those numbers into perspective, fellow Leeds centre-back Diego Llorente has an average of 1.1 tackles per game and 1.2 interceptions per game in the league so far this season, which suggests that the Spaniard could do with having Koch next to him to keep things tighter at the back.

Moving forward, whether Bielsa decides to play Koch against Arsenal or not, if he can stay fit for the rest of the season, this would surely be a big boost for the team as a whole and their chances of avoiding relegation by the end of the campaign.

In other news: Leeds dealt yet another injury blow ahead of Arsenal that’ll surely leave fans fuming - opinion