Leeds United are back in Dublin on Wednesday for a pre-season meeting with Manchester United that will be anything but friendly. Daniel Farke’s side head to a sold out Croke Park off the back of three straight wins against top-flight opposition, the latter a 2-0 victory over RB Leipzig last weekend.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha scored in either hour-long period, with Wednesday’s game against Manchester United expected to return to the more traditional 45-minute halves. Club-record signing James Trafford could be in line for an unofficial debut while left wing-back Gabriel Gudmundsson will miss out through injury.
With Wednesday’s game the penultimate opportunity for relationships to form and fitness to build, a strong team is expected. With that in mind, the YEP has attempted to predict how Leeds could line up against Manchester United.
1. Predicted XI
Let's take a look at how Farke could line his Leeds side up on Saturday. | Getty Images
2. GK: James Trafford
The club-record signing only joined up with his new teammates on Tuesday but made an instant impression against Manchester United 24 hours later. Expected to get his first taste of Elland Road as a Leeds player tomorrow. | Niall Carson/PA Wire
3. CB: Joe Rodon
Back into the starting-XI after a half-time introduction at Croke Park, which will give him a chance to play ahead of new goalkeeper Trafford. Players like Rodon could do with getting a good 90 minutes under their belt if possible. | Getty Images
4. CB: Jaka Bijol
The Slovenian is now fully back from a minor pre-season injury, playing 60 minutes against Leipzig and starting on Wednesday night. A good opportunity to keep building towards full match sharpness. | Getty Images
5. CB: Tarik Muharemovic
Solid again on Wednesday and looking the real deal at left-sided centre-back. Saturday could be a big moment for the Leeds defence if Farke starts Trafford, Rodon, Bijol and Muharemovic - his strongest back three and goalkeeper - all together for the first time. | Getty Images
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6. RWB: Jayden Bogle
Played the first 45 minutes of Wednesday's Croke Park clash and expected to start again this weekend. Been steady away all summer, although to his credit Willy Gnonto also looked really sharp when replacing the more natural wing-back. | Getty Images