Daniel Farke makes Junior Firpo call, Luke Ayling and Jaidon Anthony omitted completely – Leeds United confirmed XI v Ipswich Town
Daniel Farke has made no changes to his Leeds United XI for the blockbuster clash against Ipswich Town on Saturday (23 December), as confirmed on the club’s official X account.
However, the fit-again Junior Firpo does return to the bench, but Farke has opted to stick with Djed Spence – more at home at right-back – at the left-back berth.
Forward Ian Poveda is also back among the subs having been away on international duty with Colombia, but on-loan Bournemouth forward Jaidon Anthony was a notable absentee from the bench.
However, there is no place in the squad for senior full-back Luke Ayling, who is not even included among the substitutes bench for this crucial clash with second-place Ipswich.
Leeds are aiming to bounce back after taking just a solitary point from their last two matches against Sunderland and Coventry City.
Huge clash
There is absolutely no point in downplaying the importance of this clash to Leeds United and their hopes of achieving automatic promotion this season, as games go they just simply do not come any bigger than this.
Leeds have been unfortunate in one sense that they have, by and large, performed so well this season but the relentless nature of the form shown by Leicester City and Ipswich this season means they have constantly been playing catch up.
As it stands, Leeds are 10 points adrift of second place Ipswich. A victory here cuts the gap to seven and puts the pressure on the Tractor Boys ahead of their top-of-the-table clash with Leicester City.
Of course, if they fail to win then Ipswich go into that fixture with even more confidence. There’s still plenty of football to be played this season, of course, but the result today could have huge ramifications come May.
In other Leeds United news, Carlton Palmer says Daniel Farke has got one “unfortunate” transfer decision right for January.