Jack Harrison, Luke Ayling and Junior Firpo to be axed – Leeds United predicted XI v Newcastle United
Sam Allardyce is likely to make some changes to his Leeds United starting lineup for the Premier League clash with Newcastle at Elland Road.
The boss suffered a 2-1 defeat to Manchester City in his first game in charge, leaving the Whites in the relegation zone with three games to go as several teams around us picked up victories.
And Allardyce has confirmed that he will make some changes to the starting lineup for the next game against Newcastle, which he has claimed the team cannot afford to lose.
The big decision last week was who started in goal and Allardyce made the huge call to drop Illan Meslier and bring in the experienced Joel Robles between the sticks.
The Spaniard is likely to keep his place after doing nothing wrong in the game, with Meslier likely to see out the rest of the campaign on the bench.
In defence Leeds will be without Liam Cooper and Stuart Dallas once again for the game, but the boss is likely to switch things up. Rasmus Kristensen played well at centre-back but should switch to his more natural right-back role, which would see Luke Ayling drop out of the side.
Max Wober will start at centre-back, and should be partnered by German Robin Koch who has been good for the most part in this campaign. Pascal Struijk could also come in at left-back in place of Junior Firpo to add more strength and defensive stability.
In midfield Allardyce is likely to stick with what he knows and that’s sturdy, defensive qualities with energy. That means the trio of Adam Forshaw, Marc Roca and Weston McKennie get another run out.
In attack Allardyce’s first action was to reinstate Willy Gnonto as a starter and the Italian should keep his place in the side out wide.
Rodrigo netted the first goal of the new era with a fine strike as a substitute and the Spaniard surely did enough to earn himself a start, albeit in a slightly different position out wide.
Patrick Bamford struggled as he has done for much of the season but after the boss name-checked him as someone he sees as important in his first press conference, it seems unlikely he’ll be dropped after just one game as the number nine.
In other Leeds news, Radrizzani could now stay next season as a £4.16bn update emerged.