Leeds United take on Manchester City this Saturday evening hoping for our biggest scalp yet under the lights at Elland Road.
United’s very good chances of staying in the Premier League right now can be traced back to the reverse fixture of this weekend’s clash with Manchester City.
At half-time, Daniel Farke looked to be staring down the barrel at the Etihad. But, a change of formation and tactical approach has revitalised both him and his side’s prospects of competing in the Premier League.
Leeds United team news confirmed pre-Manchester City: Gabriel Gudmundsson
There wasn’t much to report from Farke’s press conference in the way of team news, other than the positive update on Gabriel Gudmundsson.
The Swede was hooked at half-tie against Aston Villa following a shaky performance, which later was revealed to be down to illness. However, Farke confirmed the left-back is fit and available to face the Citizens.
Elsewhere, wide man Noah Okafor remains absent with an initial two-to-week absence, likely keeping him out until after the FA Cup clash against Norwich City.
Here, I predict the starting lineup I’m expecting Farke to name against Man City…
Goalkeeper: Karl Darlow
Despite the onslaught in the second half against Villa, I don’t recall Karl Darlow being called into constant goalmouth action. That’s more a compliment to the outfielders in front of him, but you cannot deny there’s a level of confidence the 35-year-old instils in his players.
Lucas Perri’s FA Cup performance means we can’t just forget he exists, but I do think Darlow more than deserves to keep his spot.
That last-ditch parry on the stroke of half-time from Darlow against Villa was superb. While I do think Perri’s ceiling as a shot-stopper is higher, Darlow has had spectacular moments too.
Defence: Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol, Pascal Struijk, Gabriel Gudmundsson
As mentioned above, Gabriel Gudmundsson is fit and I’d expect him to come straight back into the lineup. In turn, that leaves us with a decision to make on who drops out.
Given the requirement to defend our box with our lives, I’d imagine Farke will go with his three trusted centre-backs and leave James Justin on the bench. Justin could and probably should come on in plenty of time to relieve Jayden Bogle or Gudmundsson, though.
At centre-back, then, I’m wanting Jaka Bijol to take Joe Rodon’s role through the middle. The Slovenian is our best central defender and the way he dealt with Erling Haaland in the second half at the Etihad is proof. He man-handled the Leeds-born striker.
As a result, it probably sees Rodon play in that right-sided centre-back slash right-back role. His recovery pace could be vital against someone like Nico O’Reilly out on Man City’s left.
Pascal Struijk of course keeps his place on the left side. His role at Villa didn’t go under the radar as he completely nullified Morgan Rogers by stepping into midfield when Rogers showed for the ball.
Midfield: Anton Stach, Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev
Holding down the fort through the middle will be Ethan Ampadu. If you haven’t seen it, I’m getting grilled by casual Premier League fans on TikTok. My view was that our skipper walks into a lot more teams in this league than he gets credit for. And, Farke agrees.
“An extraordinary player on this level and will develop further on. Been one of the best players in his position in the league,” Farke said, via the YEP.
I’m happy for him to keep flying under the radar, though.
Anyway, I’d imagine Farke will retain Ilia Gruev alongside Ampadu. The HeatMap has been solid of late and allows us to contain these top sides. It’s been a testing month of fixtures against three sides in the top five. What Farke needs to spot is that Gruev is clearly left flagging later in games and needs to be hooked sooner to keep us fresh.
Anton Stach obviously remains on the right side of this midfield setup. But, as seen at Villa and in other away games, I’m expecting that he keeps this more attacking role to get close to our striker.
If he manages another scorching free-kick, it would literally blow the roof off Elland Road.
Attack: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Brenden Aaronson
Linking back to that narrow loss away at Man City, Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s Premier League revival began there too. He scrambled in to halve the deficit, and then won the penalty for 2-2. The Leeds forward has profited massively from this change in approach.
Farke will and has played it down. However, there’s no denying Leeds have been directing our approach much more towards Calvert-Lewin’s strengths than we previously were. His goal tally going from one goal up to double figures since that half-time switch says it all.
Getting up in support of Calvert-Lewin will be Brenden Aaronson. The American’s previously red-hot form in front of goal has dried up somewhat, but he retains his influence on Leeds’ play overall.
It’s a game where you’d have loved Okafor on to get at the Man City defence. Aaronson will take up that role on the left and he needs to ask questions of their rear guard.
Full Leeds United predicted XI to face Manchester City
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