Leeds United host Nottingham Forest in a huge game at the bottom of the Premier League table, with both sides looking to move nine clear of West Ham.
Daniel Farke’s aims to stay in the Premier League this season will be largely dictated by our success on home turf in the remaining fixtures.
As much as fans like to fear every minor blip, Leeds’ home games between now and May represent a great opportunity to see out survival.
Leeds United team news confirmed pre-Nottingham Forest: Jaka Bijol boost, Anton Stach out for 10-14 days
The most notable update from Farke’s pre-match press conference was confirming a setback for star midfielder Anton Stach. He’s ruled out for the next 10-14 days with a hip issue, likely missing two league fixtures against Forest and Chelsea.
Lukas Nmecha remains out with injury, but there is positive news regarding Jaka Bijol, who Farke revealed to be back in team training this week.
Elsewhere, Dan James is ever closer to returning as he builds up fitness. James Justin is also fit to play after a brief foot injury scare, diagnosed as a mere bruise.
Here, I predict the Leeds XI I think Farke will name to take on Sean Dyche’s Forest…
Goalkeeper: Karl Darlow
I genuinely think it’s a coin toss between our two main goalkeepers this Friday.
I’ve gone with Karl Darlow because I just think Farke might be taking a risk in dropping his goalkeeper again for such a massive game at home.
This isn’t to say I think Darlow deserves to keep his place. His performance against Arsenal was worse than anything Lucas Perri has been chastised for in a Leeds shirt.
The saving grace with Darlow is that at 35-years-old, he’s been through sticky patches before. As a result, he likely has the mentality to get himself back on track. A confident performance in goal against Forest would be huge.
Defence: Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol, Pascal Struijk, Gabriel Gudmundsson
My big call in defence would be to bring Jaka Bijol straight back into the starting lineup. I’ll admit it’s an optimistic shout, and it all depends on what Farke sees in training plus what the medical staff are saying, which I’m of course not privy to.
That being said, if there’s any game where you’d fancy Bijol to play at 90-95%, it’s this one. He’s been transformative to our performances in a back three, and he’s one of the main reasons why we went on such an unbeaten run.
Either side are mainstays Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk, who will be thankful to not have to play Arsenal again after Saturday.
At wing-back, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Jayden Bogle’s performances could set the tone, given the potential weakness of Forest in wide areas without Neco Williams.
Midfield: Brenden Aaronson, Ethan Ampadu, Sean Longstaff
In midfield, I’m anticipating that £5million midfielder Ilia Gruev could face the axe after struggling of late. The Bulgarian obviously is an important figure in our squad, but to win the midfield battle against Forest, we need running power and physicality.
If you want to beat Forest, you need to stop their midfield from playing. A lot of their top quality is concentrated in the middle.
As a result, I think it’s time we saw Sean Longstaff back in the lineup in Gruev’s place. I’m expecting that Leeds go for a 3-4-3 in possession. It means it’ll be a pairing of Longstaff and Ethan Ampadu through the centre.
Brenden Aaronson makes up the ‘midfield three’. But as I mention, it’s more likely to be a hybrid right-wing role that the American has become very familiar with in the past two months. This formation lends itself perfectly to Facundo Buonanotte getting his opportunity as well.
I’d have the Argentine starting, but it’d mean dropping Aaronson. That ain’t happening right now, in my opinion.
Attack: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Noah Okafor
As a result of Aaronson operating in that right-half-space, closer to the striker, I’d expect Noah Okafor to come back in.
For me, the Swiss winger has to be doing more to justify his inclusion over someone like Willy Gnonto. I wrote this week about Gnonto being a potential internal solution to the lack of striker signing, and I’d like him tested in the same role as Okafor, but we won’t see that in such an important game.
In a game where Leeds are likely to have more of the ball, it does benefit Okafor more. He’s hopefully not going to be playing with his back to goal constantly, instead allowed freedom on the left flank to drive at his marker.
Through the middle is Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The absence of a striker to supplement Calvert-Lewin’s importance means there’s even more onus on the 28-year-old staying fit. Also, a pressure on him doing what he’s been doing all season as our focal point.
However, what we’ve seen from Calvert-Lewin is the best of any striker currently in the bottom half. That’s such a crucial advantage for us, and a standout performance here would be so big for the season.
Full Leeds United predicted XI to face Nottingham Forest
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