Daniel Farke denies Jaka Bijol redemption as Leeds starting XI named vs Manchester United

Daniel Farke has named his Leeds United team ahead of Sunday afternoon's clash with Manchester United.

Elland Road will be a cauldron of noise come 2pm, as the Whites meet with the Red Devils.

Leeds are looking to make it three Premier League games unbeaten against their bitter rivals.

Noah Okafor bagged a double at Old Trafford in a 2-1 win back in April, whilst Brenden Aaronson helped Farke's side to a 1-1 draw in January.

Not since September 2002, however, have Leeds beaten Man United at Elland Road.

So, this Whites class of 2026-27 has a huge opportunity to snap a 24-year-long run of hurt this afternoon.

What starting XI has Daniel Farke named for Leeds vs Man Utd?

Given the importance of this fixture to both sets of supporters, it's always fascinating to see how much risk is taken in the starting lineups.

James Trafford was always going to start in goal, and the 24-year-old does so.

Farke has gone with a back three of Tarik Muharemovic, Nico Elvedi and James Justin, with Jayden Bogle and Gabriel Gudmundsson the two wing-backs.

Ethan Ampadu, Ao Tanaka and Anton Stach comprise a formidable central midfield bank of three.

Leading the line in LS11 today is the ever-dangerous duo of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Noah Okafor as Farke names the same XI he did against Arsenal.

Michael Zetterer, Melvin Bard, Jaka Bijol, Ilia Gruev, Sean Longstaff, Brenden Aaronson, Harry Wilson, Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Lukas Nmecha make up the same bench, too.

But out of all of these selection calls, why is the one to leave Bijol on the bench perhaps the most intriguing made by Farke?

Bijol will've wanted to exorcise Man United demons

Leeds and Man United renewed their rivalry in a pre-season friendly at Croke Park back in August.

The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, with the Mancunians eventually emerging victorious 5-4 on penalties.

Bijol started the game in central defence but was replaced at half-time, not before, however, he played an unwanted role in Man United's goal.

The Slovenian international lunged into a sliding tackle on Bryan Mbuemo near the touchline, but the United forward skipped past him.

Racing clear down the left, Mbuemo then squared the ball for Joshua Zirkzee to stroke a left-footed effort past Alex Cairns with 16 minutes on the clock.

Mbuemo is starting for Michael Carrick's side this afternoon, so Bijol would no doubt have loved to have another crack at nullifying the three-goal striker.

Alas, he will have to hope his Whites comrades take care of business, as he's named on the bench for the third game running in all competitions.