Leeds United confirmed XI v Sunderland: Ethan Ampadu starts, Daniel Farke names unchanged side
Daniel Farke has named an unchanged starting line-up as Leeds United take on Sunderland at Elland Road in the Championship on 9 April.
The Whites will be keen to bounce back after their 15-game unbeaten run in the league came to an end last time out against Coventry City.
As confirmed via Leeds’ official X account ahead of kick-off, Farke makes no changes from that game, however, with Ethan Ampadu overcoming illness to start his 42nd consecutive Championship game for the Whites.
It was thought that Liam Cooper could start in case Ampadu didn’t recover in time but he remains on the bench for the match.
Leeds United cannot afford to lose
With the top end of the Championship arguably as competitive as it has ever been, Leeds simply cannot afford to slip up again as they did against Coventry.
That defeat – despite their outstanding run of 13 wins and two draws beforehand – saw them both miss out on the opportunity to leapfrog Ipswich Town and slip down to third as Leicester City capitalised to go top.
The Foxes boast a game in hand and are two points ahead of the Whites, while second-placed Ipswich remain just one point in front.
However, a second successive loss, coupled with victories for Ipswich and Leicester against Watford and Millwall, respectively, would give the pair a significant cushion at this stage of the season and likely consign Leeds to third place and the playoffs.
With five games remaining – six for Leicester – there is just enough time for another twist in the race for automatic promotion. But Leeds need to treat every game as a must-win in order to take advantage should their counterparts stumble – starting with this one against Sunderland.
In other Leeds United news, the Sunderland team bus has been slapped with a parking fine by Leeds City Council.
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