Leeds United kick off their new Championship season at Elland Road on Sunday.
On paper, it appears that Marcelo Bielsa could not be handed a much tougher start as Leeds boss with the Whites taking on Stoke City at Elland Road on the opening weekend of the new Championship season.
Trying to predict what lineup Bielsa is going to pick for the clash with the Potters is not easy. The Argentinian has already shown that he is capable of surprising decisions. Leeds often travelled to their pre-season games with only four substitutes named and it was not uncommon for some of their key first-team players to play the full 90 minutes throughout the summer.
Therefore, there is perhaps some chance that Bielsa will catch everyone off guard and play some of the impressive youngsters for the game against Stoke, or throw all of his new signings straight into the starting lineup.
However, his cautious approach to introducing Jamal Blackman into the side during pre-season hints that it may not be a huge shock if he decides to leave the likes of Patrick Bamford, Lewis Baker, Jack Harrison and Blackman himself on the bench initially.
The new signing that looks most likely to feature is perhaps Barry Douglas, who joined from Wolves for around £3 million – as reported by Sky Sports. Left-back was clearly Leeds’ main Achilles heel last season, while Douglas was the division’s best in that position so perhaps he may go straight in against Stoke.
The likes of Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Adam Forshaw, Gjanni Alioski and Kemar Roofe may perhaps find themselves on the bench with one of the new signings taking their place. But given that they have all featured when Bielsa has played what appears to be what he deems his strongest lineup in pre-season, it may not be a shock if the new head coach gives the quartet the first chance to stake a claim for a place in the team.
Bamford will almost definitely feature if he finds himself in the squad, but Roofe has done well in pre-season and Bielsa may feel that the former Middlesbrough ace has not had long enough to get up to the speed that he wants him at.
Part of Bielsa’s charm however, is that it is probably not completely out of the question for the side to look completely different to what anyone expects.
With that in mind, here is a tentative prediction at what Leeds’ lineup will look like on Sunday…
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