Leeds United will take in the first of two Elland Road pre-season friendlies with Saturday’s visit of RB Leipzig - and this is how we think the Whites will line up.
Saturday’s 2pm kick-off will present United’s first game back after their pre-season tour of the USA where a 3-2 defeat to Wrexham was followed by a 1-0 win against Sunderland and excellent 4-2 comeback success against Liverpool.
The weekend’s visit of Bundesliga side Leipzig will see Leeds step out at Elland Road for the first time in 12 weeks with United’s home faithful having not seen their team play at LS11 since the 1-0 win at home to Brighton on Sunday, May 17.
Plenty has changed since then, not least the arrival of three big summer signings in Harry Wilson, Tarik Muharemovic and James Trafford, the latter unveiled as the club’s new record signing on Thursday evening in a £40m move from Manchester City plus add-ons.
Leeds, though, have seen key men injured of late namely Gabi Gudmundsson and Jaka Bijol with Ilia Gruev still on the comeback trail and there are doubts about another star in Noah Okafor who has only just returned to training.
Saturday’s friendly against Leipzig will be a unique one with the game set to be comprised of two halves of 60 minutes for 120 minutes of football.
That means huge rotation is likely but this is the XI that we think will line up if boss Daniel Farke opts to start strong.
1. GK: Alex Cairns
Fans will be eager to see new record signing James Trafford between the sticks but Trafford only put pen to paper on Thursday and also had a later return from his summer break after being part of England's World Cup squad. He might well still feature but it seems more likely that the experienced Cairns will get another start in nets. | Getty Images
2. RB: Jayden Bogle
There are doubts about a couple of defenders but not Bogle who is clear first choice right back and an automatic pick if Farke opts to start strong. | Getty Images
3. CB: Joe Rodon
Rodon had a shaky start to pre-season with an uncharacteristic below par display against Wrexham but the Wales international warrior has been solid since and even wore the captain's armband against Sunderland. A sure fire starter at centre-back if Farke sets out strong. | Getty Images
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4. CB: Tarik Muharemovic
The record-breaking arrival of £40m new keeper Trafford is naturally grabbing all of the headlines at present but Muharemovic himself cost £34.1m this summer from Sassuolo and he's immediately impressed. Another certain starter in defence if Farke goes strong, the only question mark being whether it's two centre-backs or three. | Getty Images
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5. LB: James Justin
Leeds could be two key defenders down with doubts about both Gudmundsson and Bijol so it might be that Farke goes with a back four and just two centre-backs as a result. Either way, the versatile Justin would appear a likely starter, probably at left back in place of Gudmundsson over whom absolutely no risk will be taken. | Getty Images
6. CM: Ethan Ampadu
The club captain who has clearly a no brainer in the XI if Farke starts strong, just a case of alongside who and how many in midfield. | Getty Images