While 16 of Leeds United’s players are currently in Australia as part of the club’s pre-season tour, many of those who remained at home in England are getting ready to take on Tadcaster Albion on Wednesday night.
The likes of Kemar Roofe, Pablo Hernandez, Liam Cooper and Kalvin Phillips made the trip Down Under, but it certainly doesn’t mean that there won’t be any senior players on show against the North Yorkshire based outfit.
The Whites’ Championship campaign gets underway in two-and-a-half weeks’ time, and manager Marcelo Bielsa will want his squad to be in perfect shape ahead of the visit to Ashton Gate to face Bristol City.
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Getting more minutes under the belt against Tadcaster will do exactly that, so without further ado here is our predicted XI.
With Kiko Casilla and Kamil Miazek travelling to the southern hemisphere, that leaves Bailey Peacock-Farrell to take up his place between the sticks.
Ben White was one of the summer signings to stay behind on home shores as Bielsa looks to ensure they know exactly what he wants from them, and he may well start alongside Pascal Strujik with Pontus Jansson departed and the likes of Gaetano Berardi and Liam Cooper in Australia.
Ezgjan Alioski should fill in again at left-back, while Robbie Gotts could line up at right-back having played there for the U23s and with Luke Ayling injured.
There isn’t a great deal of choice in midfield for the Yorkshire club with Tyler Roberts injured, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Alfie McCalmont, Jamie Shackleton and Mateusz Klich make up the central midfield trio, with Jack Clarke and another new boy in Helder Costa on the wings.
Samu Saiz was reportedly due back in training on Monday, but with few updates on him it appears highly unlikely he will be involved on Wednesday.
Lastly, with Kemar Roofe and Patrick Bamford both Down Under it may well come down to a straight choice between Ryan Edmondson and Kun Temenuzhkov up top, and we are backing the former to get the nod.
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Edmondson is certainly a promising talent having already made two first-team appearances despite only turning 18 in May, as well as being a prolific scorer for the U23s.