Thomas Christiansen is expected to name a heavily changed line-up to face Premier League Burnley in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, but Leeds can still get a result against Sean Dyche’s men.
The Championship is the priority for Leeds this season but the distraction of the EFL Cup comes at a good time, after the first defeat of the season to Millwall on Saturday.
Leeds are still top of the league, however, and a good display against Premier League opposition would be the perfect tonic before their next Championship game against Ipswich at Elland Road on Saturday.
It’s also a great opportunity to give some players on the fringes of the first-team a start and see how good the depth in the Leeds squad is.
Dyche has already confirmed that he’s planning changes to his line-up, although former Leeds player Charlie Taylor could feature after being dropped from the past two matchday squads.
For Leeds, Pontus Jansson has been ruled out of the squad after picking up an injury against Millwall, but Christiansen has said it’s not serious and he could be back in contention for Saturday.
Matthew Pennington is expected to be available though, after injuring himself against Bolton in the opening weekend of the season and he should return to the starting XI.
Leeds’ No.1 Felix Wiedwald should sit this one out and give Andy Lonergan the chance to make his first appearance for the club since 2011.
At the other end, Pierre-Michel Lasogga should also be rested to give Jay-Roy Grot his first start in a Leeds shirt.
He’s had three cameo appearances so far and this will be his chance to show manager Christiansen that he deserves to be in the reckoning for the first-team.
Here’s the starting XI that can rattle and ultimately progress past Premier League Burnley on Tuesday.
