Leeds United debut vs Chelsea 'possible' as Daniel Farke weighs up key decisions for Carabao Cup clash
The Leeds United boss has hinted there will be some rotation for Wednesday’s trip to Stamford Bridge.
Daniel Farke has hinted towards some Leeds United rotation vs Chelsea with the chance of a debut for goalkeeper Michael Zetterer.
The 31-year-old joined from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer as back-up to £40million club-record arrival James Trafford. Zetterer wasn’t registered in time for the Carabao Cup second round win over Nottingham Forest and hasn’t featured in the Premier League.
Trafford has played every available minute for Leeds so far - one of only four squad members to do so - and there is a logic to keeping the 23-year-old in place as he gets used to his new surroundings. But Farke rotated in the cups last season and admits it is possible he could do the same on Wednesday.
“Of course it's possible,” Farke said of a potential debut for Zetterer. “But I want the players to know first who is in the line-up and we won't take a decision before the training session this afternoon, then we also speak to the players to let them know.
“There's always a possibility, it always depends on the situation. In the first round, I also got the feeling that James needed to come a bit more into his rhythm, and he also needed games. At the moment, there's also lots of workload on him, not just physically but also mentally,
“Michael is a very experienced goalkeeper. He has also played on Champions League level. There's a chance for a potential debut but we'll just take the decision after the training session today, perhaps even tomorrow morning. I will let the players know first, and then we'll see.”
Daniel Farke on Leeds United rotation vs Chelsea
Goalkeeper is one of several positions in which Farke could change things on Wednesday. The Leeds boss could be without just one player in Joe Rodon, although winger Dan James is also a doubt after complaining of a back and hamstring issue last weekend.
At Forest in the previous round, Farke started with a mix of first-team core players and those on the fringes. The Whites boss admits there will be rotation on Wednesday but they’re still heading to Stamford Bridge looking to beat Chelsea.
“First of all, I trust my whole squad, and there's always a chance for changes, we even had changes in the first few games,” he added. “We want to be difficult to predict and also flexible. There's also a chance right now to rotate a bit after this relatively quick turnaround. At this stage of the competition we would perhaps rotate a bit more than would do for a normal game.
“I'm trying to win it [the Carabao Cup]. That's the quickest way to Europe and to some glory. But of course, the Premier League always will have the priority and to make sure that we are as successful as possible there, especially to reach our first goal, to establish ourselves on this level.
“We travel in order to go through to the next round without doing anything stupid at this stage of the campaign, of course you also have to rotate a bit more and then integrate a few new players. It's also important, but we want to be at our best and to go through to the next round.”