Predicted Leeds XI to face Watford: One change as 30-year-old starts and Rutter decision made

Leeds United return to Championship action this evening with a trip to Vicarage Road to face Watford.

It has been 12 days since Leeds’ last outing but it is fair to say the international break has left the squad with a few bumps and bruises, with a number of late selection calls to be made tonight.

Junior Firpo, Georginio Rutter, Ilia Gruev, Willy Gnonto and Connor Roberts are all fresh injury doubts ahead of the game, though Daniel Farke did not rule any of them out in his presser on Wednesday.

Firpo only returned back from international duty with the Dominican Republic yesterday, while Rutter underwent surgery last week, though has already taken part in some team training.

As for the other three, all of them have returned from representing their respective countries with injury complaints, with assessments still not yet having been made on Wednesday.

With that all in mind, here is our best attempt at a predicted XI.

Goalkeeper

Illan Meslier was one of a handful of players who were not away on international duty and so, of course, starts in goal.

Defence

It feels highly unlikely that Farke will risk playing Firpo from the start given such a tight turnaround, and so Sam Byram looks set to come in at left-back.

Elsewhere, though, is where it gets interesting. Roberts would appear the most unlikely to be fit in time for tonight, but would’ve probably been on the bench anyway with Archie Gray at right-back.

The centre-back partnership may well depend on the fitness of others further up the pitch but given their record together, Joe Rodon and Ethan Ampadu simply cannot be broken up.

Midfield

Glen Kamara earned a nice rest in Finland’s second international match on Tuesday and so should be coming into this game refreshed.

Partnering him is hopefully the aforementioned injury doubt Gruev. The extra 24 hours of recovery time may well be key to him starting tonight.

Attack

Two of the four certainties of the front four are Patrick Bamford and Crysencio Summerville, who have also had nearly two weeks to rest since Millwall.

Farke seemed pretty confident that Rutter would be able to play some part on Wednesday and with it having been 48 hours since his presser, that could be from the start.

Like Gruev, it is impossible to know whether Gnonto will be passed fit but hopefully it was just a minor issue and he is ready for the run-in.

Predicted XI: Meslier; Gray, Rodon, Ampadu, Byram; Gruev, Kamara; Gnonto, Rutter, Summerville; Bamford