For Leeds United, the coming weekend brings a rather timely break from league action as Daniel Farke’s men take on League Two strugglers Harrogate Town in the FA Cup third round.
There’s chasms standing between Leeds United and next opponents Harrogate Town. But the North Yorkshire outfit will certainly fancy their chances of a cup upset on Saturday evening.
After a 3-3 draw against Hull City last time out, Leeds remain in 1st place of the Championship table, now boasting just a one point lead over Burnley in 2nd and Sheffield United in 3rd.
Harrogate meanwhile are down in 21st place of the League Two table. The Sulphurites ended a run of seven games without a win last time out, beating Barrow 2-0 away from home.
Saturday’s game kicks off at 5:45pm and will available to watch on BBC via the red button.
Leeds United team news vs Harrogate Town, latest on Pascal Struijk and more
Leeds United have their share of injuries going into the weekend, with strikers Joel Piroe and Patrick Bamford set to miss the game. Bamford is nursing a hamstring injury whilst Farke says he won’t risk Piroe who also has muscle issues.
Meanwhile, Max Wober is struggling with a knee injury and seems unlikely to feature. Farke though revealed in his presser on Thursday that Pascal Struijk is back and available for selection.
Junior Firpo is back in training, so too is Ilia Gruev who posted on Instagram an image of him in training, as he steps up his recovery.
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Leeds United predicted lineup vs Harrogate Town, plenty of changes expected
Whilst Farke will want to avoid an upset in the cup, he’s still bound to make changes with Leeds boasting a relatively big squad, with a relatively high level of quality throughout.
And the German has several players who are surely desperate get some game time, so this upcoming game against Harrogate is a perfect opportunity for him to give some lesser-seen faces a run out, and keep everyone happy.
Farke has already confirmed that Karl Darlow will start in place of the under fire goalkeeper Illan Meslier. Meanwhile, we could see starts for the likes of Isaac Schmidt, Josuha Guilavogui, and Mateo Joseph along the spine of the XI.
There could also be starts for attackers Largie Ramazani and Wilfried Gnonto who’ve been kept out of the XI by others of late. Likewise youth product James Debayo who’s featured on the bench in recent weeks.
Here’s how we think Leeds United will line up against Harrogate Town on Saturday evening…
Darlow (GK)
Byram
Rodon
Debayo
Bogle
Rothwell
Guilavogui
Ramazani
Aaronson
Gnonto
Joseph
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