Leeds United embark on a trip to the capital to kickstart their FA Cup campaign.
It’s the first of two successive matches against Premier League rivals West Ham United for Marcelo Bielsa’s men but they head into kick-off full of confidence after last weekend’s impressive victory over Burnley.
However, the Argentinian head coach has since suffered further injuries to his already-depleted Whites squad, so it will be interesting to see how seriously he takes the competition, given their top-flight struggles this term.
What sort of lineup could we see at the London Stadium? Here’s what Football FanCast are predicting…
There could be just two changes from the win against the Clarets.
Tyler Roberts picked up an injury during that encounter and is unavailable and his likely replacement, Joe Gelhardt, suffered a blow during Thursday’s training session.
Patrick Bamford is expected to return to the squad today but it would be a risk to start him, especially for the entire 90 minutes. Instead, Bielsa might hand an opportunity to promising U23 hopeful Sam Greenwood, who continues to light up the academy with goals.
According to The Athletic’s Phil Hay, both he and Lewis Bate are likely to be involved in some capacity – the latter may have to settle for a place on the bench though.
The other change comes out wide as leading goalscorer Raphinha earns a rest ahead of next weekend’s important league clash. In his place, we could see Crycensio Summerville after the 20-year-old’s impressive performance for the U23s in midweek.
It means Illan Meslier remains between the sticks, with a backline of Junior Firpo, Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and vice-skipper Luke Ayling also unchanged.
Stuart Dallas would continue in midfield alongside Adam Forshaw – who will continue in the Kalvin Phillips role – and Mateusz Klich.
As a more experienced member of the squad, Jack Harrison could support Greenwood and Summerville in the attack.
Predicted Leeds XI (4-1-4-1): Meslier; Firpo, Llorente, Koch, Ayling; Forshaw; Harrison, Klich, Dallas, Summerville; Greenwood
AND in other news, Bielsa suffers fresh Leeds injury blow ahead of Hammers cup clash…