Leeds United predicted XI vs RB Leipzig: James Trafford debut, Ao Tanaka out

Leeds United face another stern pre-season test against RB Leipzig on Saturday.

Elland Road hosts it's first Leeds game of the 2026-27 term this weekend, and it's set to be some afternoon.

Daniel Farke's side are fresh off the back of two impressive wins over Premier League rivals Sunderland and Liverpool respectively.

However, Bundesliga giants RB Leipzig visit West Yorkshire on Saturday, with manager Martin Demichelis set to lead his side into his first campaign as Leipzig boss.

The German side finished third in the Bundesliga last year, earning them a place in this coming season's Champions League.

So, ahead of Saturday's 2pm kick-off, MOT Leeds News attempts to go inside Farke's mind and predict how he'll line his team up at Elland Road.

Leeds faithful get first glimpse of new record signing James Trafford

Farke deployed a 3-4-3 in the 4-2 win against Liverpool last time out, and that's how we expect him to play on Saturday too.

Alex Cairns was in goal for that one, but with James Trafford now having completed his record-breaking £40million plus add-ons move to Leeds, the 23-year-old should be given his debut against Leipzig.

In front of him, we're backing Farke to name an unchanged trio of central defenders in Tarik Muharemovic, Joe Rodon and James Justin.

Over at left wing-back, Gabriel Gudmundsson suffered a suspected hamstring injury against Liverpool and looks set to be sidelined for a number of weeks.

As a result, that should open the door for 18-year-old Jayden Lienou to start at left wing-back, having played the first half against Wrexham as well as brief cameos against Sunderland and Liverpool respectively.

Down the opposite flank, Jayden Bogle should keep his place at right wing-back.

So, with one enforced change and one debut handed in defence, will Farke make more alterations when it comes to his central midfield partnership?

Farke ready to reward Liverpool goalscorer vs Leipzig

Against Liverpool, Farke went with Ao Tanaka and Ethan Ampadu as his central midfield pairing.

The latter of those was typically excellent, grabbing the assist for Brenden Aaronson's goal on the hour mark, and that should warrant Ampadu keeping his place for Leipzig.

However, Tanaka didn't enjoy a particularly great day at the office against Liverpool, picking up a yellow card before being subbed off at half-time.

That's now two yellow cards in as many games for the Japanese international, and so we're tipping Sean Longstaff to come into the starting XI in his place this weekend.

Longstaff put the Whites 3-2 up against Andoni Iraola's men, netting his second goal of the pre-season campaign and now having surely earned the chance to get 90 minutes under his belt.

Now we've just got the forward line to sort out, and we're expecting Farke to also make some changes here too.

Stach to earn another chance after impressing in new role vs Liverpool

Last time out, Farke went with a front three of Dan James, Anton Stach and Lukas Nmecha.

We think the German boss will make two changes to this attack for the visit of Leipzig, starting with James on the right.

The 28-year-old hasn't quite taken his chance in pre-season so far, with zero goals from his three appearances, and we're expecting that to cost him his place in the starting XI this Saturday.

In his place, new signing Harry Wilson can earn his first start since Sunderland, after coming on for the second half against Liverpool and playing very well.

Down the left, Stach started as the left winger against the Reds and put in a very impressive first-half performance, offering encouragement that his versatility can stretch to this role too.

With Noah Okafor now reporting back to Leeds training after being given an extended summer break, Farke should want to take another look at Stach in this position to see if the German is actually a better option than the Swiss international here.

That just leaves the centre-forward spot, and after drawing a blank against Liverpool before being replaced for the second half, Nmecha looks set to be dropped in place of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

He came on and bagged a brace against the Reds, and so increasing his workload and getting him back in the starting groove ahead of the new season would be a wise move for Farke.