Leeds travel to face Wolves at Molineux on Wednesday in round three of the EFL Cup.
It is the second time the teams will play each other this season after the Whites secured a 2-1 victory over their upcoming opponents on the Premier League season’s opening day.
Fans will remember Leeds’ last visit to Molineux fondly as three second-half goals saw them come back to win a game they were losing 2-0 at half-time last season.
Both sides triumphed over lesser sides in the competition’s previous round, with Leeds beating fellow Yorkshire side Barnsley 3-1 and Wolves earning a 2-1 home win over Preston North End.
Jesse Marsch’s side come into the game having won their last two matches in dramatic fashion – an unprecedented away win at Anfield being followed by a spirited comeback at home against Bournemouth a week later.
Wolves, conversely, are winless in their last four games and have generally had a tough start to their Premier League season. Despite appointing a new manager, ex-Sevilla boss Julen Lopetegui, on Saturday he will not assume charge of the club until the World Cup break. Responsibility instead falls to the current caretaker manager Steve Davis who stepped up from managing Wolves’ Under-18s side following the departure of previous boss Bruno Lage.
After putting away his penalty on Saturday, Rodrigo now comfortably tops the goals scored charts having netted seven for the Whites so far this season, sitting well above second-placed Crysencio Summerville who has three.
It is Summerville, however, who is Leeds’ most in-form player with all three of his goals having came in his last three games – two of which proved to be match-winners. Fans will no doubt be clamouring for him to feature in Marsch’s starting XI against Wolves to see if he can continue this hot streak.
Leeds’ opponents, in contrast, have found goals much harder to come by this season, with Ruben Neves currently topping the goal charts with four so far this season, followed by Adama Traore and Daniel Podence who have two apiece.
Leeds have had a poor relationship with cup competitions in recent memory, so it would be nice to see the team advance relatively far this season. Whilst admittedly a long way off seeing winning the EFL Cup as a viable route into Europe, a win on Wednesday would prove incredibly helpful in maintaining momentum for Marsch as he heads into his final Premier League game before the World Cup break against Spurs at the weekend.
