Piroe dropped, debut handed out – Leeds United predicted XI v Villarreal
Leeds United continue their preparations for the new season with a friendly against Villarreal on Saturday.
The Whites will be looking to continue their momentum from their tour of Germany at Elland Road on 2 August ahead of the Premier League campaign.
The Whites beat SC Verl (22 July) and SC Paderborn (26 July) in behind-closed-doors matches and handed out debuts to the likes of Anton Stach and Gabriel Gudmundsson.
Farke could be set to hand out another debut in the contest with the Spanish side.
Farke to make two changes for Leeds v Villarreal
The Whites desperately needed a new goalkeeper as Illan Meslier and Karl Darlow were not convincing last season.
They have their man after confirming the signing of Lucas Perri from Lyon (26 July), and he is expected to make his first start for the club against the Yellow Submarine.
- Perri kept 10 clean sheets in 33 Ligue 1 matches last season
Farke is predicted to stick with the same backline that started against Paderborn, with Jayden Bogle at right-back, a centre-back partnership of Joe Rodon and Jaka Bijol and Gudmundsson at left-back.
The midfield three might also be left untouched with Ethan Ampadu, Ao Tanaka and Stach potentially continuing to feature in the engine room.
Dan James is expected to start on the right flank, and Largie Ramazani is predicted to retain his spot on the left-hand side.
Lukas Nmecha is expected to be handed the starting berth over Joel Piroe after coming on to score the winner against the 2.Bundesliga team.
- Nmecha has scored two in three pre-season matches for the Whites so far after his free transfer from Wolfsburg.
Leeds need to keep the momentum going
The Whites need to keep their momentum flowing after a successful spell in Germany, as they need to start the season fast.
The LS11 outfit need to pick up as many positive results as they can during the first few weeks of the campaign.
They will be confident of doing so, considering the quality of the new arrivals that they have brought in so far.
However, the business must not stop anytime soon, the 49ers Enterprises group must continue to back Farke to build the best possible squad, to have a good chance of securing survival in their return to the top flight.
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