Leeds United face Brighton on Saturday afternoon as Daniel Farke has choices to make. The Premier League encounter will be a battle between two current relegation rivals.
Former Leeds man Georginio Rutter faces his old side for the first time since his departure from the club. The coach has tough choices to make as the team prepares to win two in a row. Brighton though have some injury concerns to deal with.
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The two teams are separated by a solitary point at the moment and a loss for either of them will make their fight for survival tougher.
Leeds United will prefer an unchanged side
In a perfect world, the team will prefer to go unchanged against West Ham. But Brighton pose a serious threat at home. The Seagulls are unbeaten at home this season. They have won twice and drawn as many.
The two wins were against Manchester City and Newcastle United. While Fulham and Tottenham were able to extract a single point. Thus, continuing a winning combination will be the ideal way forward.
Willy Gnonto and Gabriel Gudmundsson are the two injury concerns for the side. While Gnoto is expected to train this week, Gudmundsson went off the pitch against West Ham in the first half. The injury doesn’t seem serious. But Farke’s pre-match presser will give us a clearer picture.
Predicted Starting XI
Out of 11 players nine of them should be automatic choices. Lucas Perri, Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol, Ethan Ampadu, Sean Longstaff, Brenden Aaronson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Noah Okafor will play if fit.
Out of the above Noah Okafor recently came back from injury and played 45 minutes plus injury time against the Hammers. He will surely go longer against the Seagulls. But the two areas which Farke needs to address are left-back and midfield.
Gudmundsson’s availability is unclear and James Justin delivered in his second half stint on Friday. So Farke might be tempted to start with the former Leicester man. Meanwhile Anton Starch has a rib issue with his form also deserting him in recent games. Therefore, Ao Tanaka will likely start ahead of the German.
A win away at Brighton will set Leeds up perfectly. Another relegation rivals awaits them a week after. The Whites will travel to Nottingham on the 9th of November. It is important for them to keep the momentum with a tough month ahead.
Leeds will be hosting Aston Villa, before travelling to Manchester City. Trips from Chelsea and defending champions Liverpool will finish their November commitments in the Premier League.
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