Leeds United vs Wrexham predicted XI: Daniel Farke experiments as Harry Wilson debuts

Leeds United begin their pre-season campaign against Wrexham in the United States on Saturday.

Well technically, that's not true for us, as kick-off in Tampa is set for 00:30am Sunday morning UK time.

Thankfully, we've just had a World Cup taking place across the pond, so many Whites fans will have fresh experience of staying up to watch.

Incredibly, this will only be the third time Leeds and Wrexham have played each other, with the previous two meetings also being friendlies, both of which took place in August 1964.

Leeds won both of those games by scores of 8-4 and 2-1 respectively, and whilst Daniel Farke would be happy with a win however it comes, the former would be wild.

Ahead of Leeds' pre-season opener, MOT Leeds News has a go at predicting who Farke will pick to start against Wrexham this weekend.

How Daniel Farke's defence might look in Leeds vs Wrexham

With this being Leeds' first game of pre-season, we don't have much to go on in terms of how Farke will approach it.

We're going to assume there will be a mix of senior and youth players involved, with those having participated at the World Cup likely to be rested, whilst it's easy to guess that Leeds will play in a 3-4-2-1 formation.

In goal then, this could be a nice opportunity for Alex Cairns to mark his recently signed contract extension with a rare starting opportunity, as well giving him a chance to show Farke why he's still a solid number two option.

At left wing-back, Jayden Lienou - who has just penned a new contract extension - might get the nod here, whilst Jayden Bogle looks set to start on the right.

As for the three centre-backs, Joe Rodon, Sebastiaan Bornauw and Jaka Bijol could all earn their first pre-season minutes.

With the defence sorted, how might Farke set his midfield engine room up against the Championship promotion hopefuls?

Farke to hand Wilson his dream Leeds debut

Starting with the central midfield pairing, we're backing Farke to mix proven senior stardom and youth talent together here.

Ethan Ampadu should start and captain the side in Tampa, anchoring Leeds' midfield as he always does and providing somewhat of a comfort blanket for his central midfield partner.

Alongside him, this could be a good opportunity for the Whites' coaching staff to take a closer look at Charlie Crew, before potentially making a decision on his transfer future later this summer.

Moving ahead to the two attacking midfield spots, Farke could opt to give Wilfried Gnonto a run out down the left, with the Italian needing a big pre-season if he's to force his way back into his manager's thinking.

Next to him, Harry Wilson looks primed to start on the right, with the Wrexham-born attacker no doubt banging on Farke's door to make sure he gets to play against the Red Dragons.

So, that only leaves the centre-forward spot to be filled, but who might Farke opt to lead the line against the Red Dragons?

Why Farke should start his top marksman vs Wrexham

Despite being early in pre-season, Farke may wish to get as many minutes into some of his star players as possible.

And so for this opening match, Dominic Calvert-Lewin may get the nod over Lukas Nmecha, as he looks to get his eye back in ahead of another season where plenty of responsibility will be placed on his shoulders.

Regarding those to come on against Wrexham, Lucas Perri, James Justin, Nmecha, Joel Piroe, Anton Stach and Sean Longstaff should all get the chance to see some minutes, perhaps even a half each.

With it being the first game, Farke will be keen to get off to a winning start, and so he won't be taking the Championship outfit lightly that's for sure.