Both teams have some serious speed on the bench. Daniel James is a welcome returnee for Leeds having been out for a good while with a hamstring injury. Joël Piroe and Wilfried Gnonto also have pace to burn and could give the hosts that extra bit of thrust late in the game. The absence of loan signing Facundo Buonanotte is… a bit strange.
Forest have Dan Ndoye and Omari Hutchinson to introduce onto the wings at some stage, as well as the powerful striker Taiwo Awoniyi who scored on his last outing off the bench at Brentford.
That’s a lot of defenders Leeds have picked tonight. Ampadu is very much a deep-lying midfielder, so it’s six defensive players on the teamsheet from Daniel Farke, with either Gabriel Gudmundsson or James Justin slotting into a back three and the other one joining Jayden Bogle as a wing-back.
No Netz in the Forest starting lineup, as 19-year-old centre-back Zach Abbott gets a first Premier League start instead. He’s made a handful of appearances in the Europa League this season. There were some claims that Callum Hudson-Odoi would be out for this one with a shoulder injury, but he’s been passed fit to start. Ortega makes his debut in goal.
Leeds: Darlow; Justin, Rodon, Strujik; Bogle, Gruev, Ampadu, Aaronson, Gudmundsson; Okafor, Calvert-Lewin.
