Leeds United kick off their pre-season campaign with a trip to York City on Wednesday.
Leeds United start their pre-season campaign with a trip to York City on Wednesday night, and it would be no surprise if Marcelo Bielsa looked to include a number of new signings in his starting lineup.
The Whites will be pleased to be focusing on football after a mixed summer and tough week in which Pontus Jansson sealed a move away from Elland Road to join Championship rivals Brentford.
Despite Jansson’s departure, the back five is likely to look fairly similar to the defence that played together for much of the first-half of last season. Bailey Peacock-Farrell may return to the side after spending the second-half of the campaign as Kiko Casilla’s understudy, while Luke Ayling, Liam Cooper and Barry Douglas should all start.
The big change at the back involves Ben White, with the Leeds fans potentially getting to see the Brighton loanee involved for the first time for the Whites.
Meanwhile, the midfield may also look familiar with Kalvin Phillips and Adam Forshaw in the middle of the park. Mateusz Klich’s season was extended by international duty, so he may be being given more time to get up to speed.
Jack Harrison must be a contender to start after rejoining on loan, and Pablo Hernandez could get a chance in the number 10 role to make way for another new signing.
Helder Costa is certainly the marquee addition of the window so far for Leeds. The fans would love to see the Wolves loanee play a key role at York as they begin to wonder whether Bielsa’s men will come out of this window in a better position to the one they were in when they started.
Patrick Bamford may get the nod to lead the line. But the likes of Casilla, Gjanni Alioski, Gaetano Berardi, Jack Clarke, Jamie Shackleton, Tyler Roberts and Kemar Roofe could well also feature as Leeds make their bow for this season.
With that in mind, here is the predicted lineup in full…
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