Leeds United are back in action after eight days between their last outing against Liverpool and today’s trip to Brentford, and Daniel Farke has picked his starting XI.
Leeds come into the game after a hectic week that saw Daniel Farke save his job at Elland Road, securing four points from games against Chelsea and Liverpool. The German has done so with a new formation.
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Leeds' next fve games.
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Obviously, the changes are more nuanced than simply making his side play 3-5-2. But whatever he has done, has drastically worked. It has restored confidence, and it almost feels like this is a new Farke era.
So, to this afternoon. Leeds face Brentford. A game that looks a formality on paper, given Brentford boast the fourth-best home record in the Premier League, and Leeds have lost six of their seven away games.
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Daniel Farke makes one change and sticks with 3-5-2 system
Earlier this week, Farke confirmed that Leeds would be without Lukas Nmecha alongside Sean Longstaff and Dan James. That meant that Noah Okafor was likely to partner Dominic Calvert-Lewin up top.
Farke has retained the 3-5-2 formation, and Okafor is up top again, while Lucas Perri and the defence remain the same. Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol, Pascal Struijk and Gabriel Gudmundsson all start.
The one change made by Farke comes in midfield and it won’t be a surprise. Ilia Gruev was superb in the near-comeback against Man City and the draw against Liverpool, but Ao Tanaka cannot be ignored.
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Tanaka scored Leeds’ second in the 3-1 win against Chelsea with a blasting effort from 20 yards, before popping up at the back post to score an equaliser against Liverpool. Tanaka comes in for Gruev.
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One change as Ao Tanaka comes in.
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Daniel Farke’s record against Brentford and the sub-plots
Interestingly, Farke has a superb record against Brentford. This is his first match against The Bees as Leeds manager, but the German has won five of eight games against Brentford at Norwich, losing only once.
As Leeds reignite their rivalry with Keith Andrews, Dominic Calvert-Lewin will be looking to make history as only the third Englishman to score in four consecutive Premier League games for Leeds at the G-Tech.
Michael Bridges did it twice in 1999-2000 and Calvert-Lewin will be hoping his previous record against Brentford will help him, having netted two in three career games. Farke hopes Nmecha is fit next time out.
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