Leeds United face a home test against Watford tomorrow afternoon at Elland Road in what is expected to be a tight and competitive game.
Whites boss Daniel Farke gave an update on the squad at this afternoon’s pre-game press conference, with some noticeable absentees listed ahead of the fixture. As expected, centre-half Joe Rodon will miss the game after his dismissal in the mid-week game against Hull city. He will serve a one game ban and should be back in contention for the trip to Southampton tomorrow week.
Wilfried Gnonto will also miss out after sustaining a lateral ligament injury to his ankle in midweek. It is not clear yet how long the young winger will be on the sidelines for. This represents a blow to the side as Gnonto has been a consistent creative force in the team and his absence will be felt. Welsh man Ethan Ampadu, who sustained a dead leg in the game against Millwall will be fit, coming through the Hull game unscathed.
In other positive news, long serving club stalwart Stuart Dallas has returned to full team training this week. Dallas has been out since April 2022 with a femoral fracture and has seen the club relegated in that time. Farke suggested this afternoon that it will still be another number of weeks before the Northern Irishman will be up to full speed, however it is a huge step forward for him and the club.
In terms of the situation at centre-half, Farke was asked his thoughts on potentially having two left-footed players play in those positions together tomorrow, as captain Liam Cooper is expected to replace the suspended Joe Rodon. Farke responded by saying that it is the quality of the player that concerns him rather than what foot they use. This would suggest that Cooper will play and not the right-footed option in Charlie Cresswell. At left back, Sam Byram will likely replace Jamie Shackleton who struggled in the role during the week. He was guilty of conceding possession on a number of occasions and failed to influence the game higher up the pitch. Farke is understood to be managing Byrams workload carefully given the defenders history of injuries but should start tomorrow’s game.
Farke will have a decision to make in midfield as to who comes in for the injured Willy Gnonto. The obvious replacement would be Crysencio Summerville who replaced the Italian on Wednesday evening, going on to have a positive influence on the game. There will be a temptation to start loan signing Jadon Anthony who has looked lively when introduced this season, with Dan James to possibly come out of the side.
Leeds last faced Watford in April of 2022 in what was a premier league fixture, earning a comfortable 3-0 win at Vicarage Road. This season the hornets have had a mixed start, winning 2, drawing 3 and losing 2 of their opening 7 fixtures. They are unbeaten in their last 3 however and will pose a threat at Elland Road. A win for Leeds could see them jump into the promotion places for the first time this season, but this will be dependent on other results. The side are unbeaten in 5 and have managed to keep clean sheets in their last 3 fixtures.
Leeds United predicted starting XI to face Watford:
Meslier, Ayling, Cooper, Struijk, Byram, Summerville, Ampadu, Gray, James, Piroe, Rutter
Subs: Darlow, Cresswell, Shackleton, Gelhardt, Kamara, Gruev, Poveda, Anthony,
