Daniel Farke will be keen to ensure that his Leeds United players shake off their FA Cup exit this weekend and refocus on their race to get promoted to the Premier League. The Whites sit at the top of the Championship table and have a five-point lead over Burnley who are sitting just outside the promotion spots. Leeds will be in action on Tuesday night when they have an away game at Vicarage Road against Watford. The Yorkshire giants are the favourites to win this fixture given the gulf between the two sides but a trip to Watford is never an easy game for anyone in the Championship. Farke will be well aware of that and will look to pick a team that will give Leeds the best chance to walk away with all three points.
The Whites were hoping for a deep cup run but a 2-0 defeat to Millwall at Elland Road on Saturday put an end to the dream of progressing in the FA Cup.
Promotion to the Premier League is still their priority focus and Leeds United will be back in Championship action on Tuesday night when they take on Watford away from home.
Leeds are in great form at the moment and wins over Cardiff City and Coventry City, two sides who were in a good run before they faced the Whites, have further burnished their credentials as the biggest favourites to get promoted.
They are massive favourites to beat Watford who are in the middle of a terrible run of form, winning just one of their last six games, but Leeds will look to ensure they don’t feel overconfident.
A midfield and defensive rejig for Leeds United
Farke made several changes to his eleven against Millwall in the FA Cup, which resulted in a disjointed performance but most of his top players will return to the team on Tuesday night.
However, the Leeds boss will have to take a big call on his defensive and midfield make-up as he has all his best players fit and ready to play this week.
Pascal Struijk returned to the team following his recovery from a hamstring injury and Farke is likely to take up the opportunity to reinstate him at the heart of his defence.
The Leeds manager has made it clear that he doesn’t see Ethan Ampadu as a defender and if Struijk returns to the starting eleven, the Leeds captain will drop back into the midfield.
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The decision on who will partner with the Welsham in the middle of the park would be difficult. Ilia Gruev has done nothing wrong to get dropped from the eleven but the €6.5m man is far too similar a player to Ampadu.
Joe Rothwell is more suited to play at Elland Road where Leeds seem to dominate proceedings. Ao Tanaka is likely to be favoured because of his ability to go up and down the pitch and his attacking instincts.
The favoured forward line will be back on display
Mateo Joseph, Wilfried Gnonto and Largie Ramazani did little on Saturday to make Farke think about his selection ahead of the Watford game.
Brenden Aaronson will return to the line-up as the number 10 and Leeds did miss his presence as the team struggled to knit together the attack and defence against Millwall.
Joel Piroe will be back as the number 9 for the team with the in-form Manor Solomon and Danial James playing on either side of the striker.
Farke is unlikely to experiment with his forward line on Tuesday night as the team will be under pressure to get all three points from their trip to Vicarage Road
The FA Cup exit showed that some of the other attackers in the squad just do not have the consistency needed to deliver at this level.
Predicted line-up – Meslier, Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Firpo, Amapdu, Tanaka, Aaronson, James, Piroe, Solomon
