Leeds and Town sit at opposite ends of the EFL ladder, Daniel Farke’s Whites top of the Championship and Simon Weaver’s Town side fourth-bottom in League Two. Town were only promoted to the Football League in 2020 as National League play-offs winners with victory over Notts County.
Town have kept their necks well above water since and now face a first ever competitive fixture against illustrious nearby neighbours Leeds as United’s bid for promotion back to the Premier League temporarily pauses.
Whites boss Daniel Farke is likely to make plenty of changes for the fixture which Town approach following last weekend’s 2-0 victory at Barrow which marked a first win from their last eight games. Yet Farke and Weaver will be without eight players between them and two more are doubts. Here, we run through the injuries from both sides which also includes three men returning.
7. Matty Foulds (out)
A fresh blow for Town. Defender Foulds pulled his groin in the year ending 1-1 draw at Fleetwood Town but the club were hoping that the 26-year-old would soon be making a return. Foulds, though, has now been ruled out for another month. Weaver admitted: "Matthew Foulds has been ruled out for another month which has come from nowhere really, just from a bit of tightening up in his joint in his groin so that rules him out. Another one." Photo: Richard Sellers
8. James Moorby (out)
Young defender Moorby signed his first professional contract with Town in May after progressing through the club's Academy but the youngster is out injured. Photo: George Wood
9. Eno Nto (out)
And one more missing for boss Weaver. Town signed 22-year-old forward Nto on a month-to-month contract in November after a successful trial. But the ex-Derby County youngster has played just 66 minutes for his new club and has not been seen since making the bench for December's league clash Tranmere Rovers for which he was an unused substitute. He is yet another Town player out injured. Photo: Pete Norton
10. Ellis Taylor (doubt)
Another one out for Town but one with a chance of featuring in the cup tie. Young midfielder Taylor has been out with a calf injury but Weaver has said that he is the closest of his injured players to returning. Weaver said: "Ellis has been wanting to train this week, obviously that task has been made harder by the weather. But hopefully he will have a little blow out and he'll have some involvement in the squad we hope.” Photo: George Wood
11. Max Wober (doubt)
United's Austrian international defender is a doubt due to ingoing knee problems. Speaking at Thursday's pre-match press conference, Whites boss Farke said of Wober: "This week he had to rest. Yesterday we had a session with less load and he was back in team training. He seems to struggle a bit with his knee after an appearance. This is more or less the status." Photo: George Wood
12. Patrick Bamford (out)
Whites no 9 Bamford missed last weekend's clash at Hull due to a hamstring injury and the striker is now facing four weeks out. Farke said: "Sadly I have to confirm it's a bit more of a serious injury. He suffered a hamstring injury, he will be out more or less for four weeks, it could last a few more days, it could perhaps be a bit quicker depending on the rehab. It means there's a small chance in the end of January he's back in team training. We will see. Three more weeks at least." Photo: George Wood