Leeds United take on Preston North End in the Championship on Saturday, looking to continue their winning start to the season.
Leeds go into their clash with Preston North End at the weekend looking to continue their winning start to the season after following up their opening day win in the Championship with an emphatic victory over Port Vale in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
Thomas Christiansen responded to the 3-2 win over Bolton in their curtain-raising fixture by making nine changes for the clash with the Valiants. And while the side stormed through to the next round, it may not be too great a surprise to see Christiansen make another host of changes this weekend.
The biggest news for Leeds is surely the return of Pontus Jansson following the end of the suspension that ruled him out of the first two games of the campaign as well as the last fixture of last term.
With Matthew Pennington limping out of the Bolton win, Jansson will surely come back into the team as long as he stays fit leading up to the game, and he will surely partner Liam Cooper who will be buoyed after signing a new long-term deal with the Whites this week.
Meanwhile, perhaps the other key selection decision revolves around the central attacking midfield position. Pablo Hernandez played very well against Bolton, and would have been forgiven for thinking that he had done enough to keep his place for the upcoming Preston game given that Samu Saiz’s debut would come against a team plying their trade in League Two.
However, Saiz announced himself to the Leeds fans in perfect fashion, scoring a hat-trick in the 4-1 victory, and leaving him out may prove too difficult for Christiansen – though he could arguably just as easily keep faith with Hernandez.
It will not be a surprise to see Chris Wood return despite Caleb Ekuban’s promising debut in midweek, while the partnership of Kalvin Phillips and Eunan O’Kane was integral to Leeds’ victory against Bolton, so expect to see the pair brought back in against the Lilywhites.
The selections of the wingers may be where Christiansen does spring a surprise. Stuart Dallas did well against Vale and linked up well with left-back Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, so he could well keep his place ahead of Kemar Roofe.
But Roofe looked lively against Bolton while Gianni Alioski was excellent after being brought on in midweek, so they may well start again in the wide areas.
Here is the full Leeds lineup we expect for their clash with Preston:
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