Losing a game of football is never ideal, but Leeds were beaten by QPR in truly awful fashion.

The London club’s only goal should have been chalked off for handball, and to make matters worse, United would go on to miss a penalty to level the score.

It really wasn’t Leeds’ day, and one incident late in the game will certainly affect their chances in any upcoming matches. Kalvin Phillips was sent off late on at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, and he won’t be able to play in any of the Whites’ next three outings.

Watch Leeds United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Replacing Phillips

So, how do you make up for the absence of a man hailed as the best player in the Championship?

As you can imagine, it’s a really tough task. Phillips’ role has been described as one of the most important in Marcelo Bielsa’s system due to the amount of running and pressing that he has to do in order to stop the opposition’s attacks.

The 24-year-old is a tireless worker, averaging the sixth-highest number of tackles per game, despite playing for the team with the highest average possession.

Replacing the midfielder is an incredibly tough task, but Bielsa may have already come up with the solution in early December.

Bielsa’s plan

This isn’t the first time Leeds have been without Phillips this season as he was absent for their 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town.

Against the Terriers, Bielsa opted to play without a holding midfielder, using a back three with wing-backs while Mateusz Klich and Pablo Hernandez played in more advanced midfield roles.

Leeds may have won that day, but they struggled. Phil Hay even stated that they were desperate for another body in the midfield.

That means that Bielsa should opt to utilise a plan he spoke about before that Huddersfield clash.

Prior to the match, the Argentine said that Ben White would be the man to replace Phillips, but it didn’t quite work out like that and after their struggles against their Yorkshire rivals it may be time to actually put that plan into practice.

White has all the attributes needed to play that role – he is a tough tackler, making 1.8 tackles per game, and he can read an attack as well as anyone as he makes 2.5 interceptions per game. His passing is up there with the best midfielders as well as he has an 85% success rate.

Only two players to start this term for Leeds have a higher percentage than the Brighton loanee.

With Phillips out of action for the next three games it’s time for Bielsa to give White a go in the midfield.

In other news, Noel Whelan has slated one of Leeds’ transfer strategies.