{"id":658880,"date":"2025-12-28T01:57:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T01:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/658880\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T01:57:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T01:57:24","slug":"predicted-xi-and-team-news-confirmed-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/658880\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicted XI and team news confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leeds United<\/a> travel up to Sunderland<\/a> on Sunday looking to end 2025 on a real high after this winter\u2019s resurgence under Daniel Farke.<\/strong><\/p>\n

United looked doomed for the drop as their form spiralled during the autumn, with a brutal run of games in November onwards ahead.<\/p>\n

Instead, Daniel Farke has called upon some newfound proactive and pragmatic management<\/a> to get an impressive eight points in the last four games. What\u2019s more impressive is the opposition Leeds have played in that stretch.<\/p>\n

Most Read on LeedsAllOver<\/p>\n

Leeds United team news pre-Sunderland: Lukas Nmecha has \u201csmall chance\u201d of return<\/p>\n

Farke\u2019s pre-match press conference<\/a> brought a positive update on Lukas Nmecha\u2019s fitness. The German has been missing for the last three games with a hamstring problem, but was given a \u201csmall chance\u201d to return at the Stadium of Light.<\/p>\n

Dan James<\/a> and Sean Longstaff remain absent<\/a> through injury, now expected back in the new year at some stage, hopefully soon.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leeds United\u2019s Lukas Nmecha could return vs Sunderland. (Action Images via Reuters\/Jason Cairnduff)<\/p>\n

In terms of suspensions, Jayden Bogle and Ethan Ampadu (four bookings each) must avoid a caution vs Sunderland and Liverpool to clear the threshold.<\/p>\n

Here, I look at the lineup I predict Farke will name to take on the Black Cats\u2026<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper: Lucas Perri<\/p>\n

Lucas Perri<\/strong> has become a much more confident and imposing presence since the outfielders in front of him have raised their levels.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s wild to think how much confidence can play a part in a goalkeeper\u2019s form. Perri doesn\u2019t look like shanking every kick into touch, he\u2019s finding channels and the forwards\u2019 heads with a lot more passes, and doesn\u2019t look shaky from crosses. Yes, he gave a penalty away vs Palace, but was caught short badly by his defence.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leeds United\u2019s Lucas Perri is set to start in goal. (Action Images via Reuters\/John Sibley)<\/p>\n

I\u2019m glad I stuck by him during a noticeable rough patch, because there\u2019s clearly a good Premier League \u2018keeper there.<\/p>\n

Consistency is key now. Let\u2019s hope he\u2019s got another strong showing in him to end the year well.<\/p>\n

Another thing I really like about him: he gets it, and that goes a long way.<\/p>\n

Defence: Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol, Pascal Struijk, Gabriel Gudmundsson<\/p>\n

The defence is sure to remain unchanged after another outing with real intensity and front-foot aggression to snuff out the Palace attackers.<\/p>\n

What caught everyone\u2019s eye the most was centre-back Joe Rodon<\/strong> flying down the right wing to join Jayden Bogle<\/strong> in almost every attack in the first half. Farke pinned that tactical decision down to Leeds shifting into a four-back formation in possession<\/a>, and reverting to a five-back when we lost the ball. I don\u2019t think we should expect Rodon on the right stinger every week, but it\u2019s a niche that Farke has found that could be explored further.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leeds United\u2019s Jaka Bijol and Joe Rodon expected to start vs Sunderland. (REUTERS\/Chris Radburn)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll tell you what, I\u2019d hate to be a left-back that sees the 6ft4in Welsh Wall marauding down my wing.<\/p>\n

Jaka Bijol<\/strong> remains imperious in the middle of the centre-back trio, with Pascal Struijk<\/strong> making up the setup at the back. <\/p>\n

Gabriel Gudmundsson\u2019s<\/strong> intensity out wide on the left remains a crucial component to United\u2019s buildup.<\/p>\n

Midfield: Ao Tanaka, Ethan Ampadu, Anton Stach<\/p>\n

The one change I\u2019d expect is Ao Tanaka<\/strong> coming back into the side for Brenden Aaronson. <\/p>\n

To be fair, after Aaronson\u2019s performance against Palace, I\u2019d happily see him stay put on the right side of midfield. The issue is we\u2019ve said this before after good Aaronson performances, and his issue is he\u2019s not following them up with back-to-back displays of that calibre.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leeds United midfielder Ao Tanaka could return to the lineup against Sunderland. (Action Images via Reuters\/Andrew Boyers)<\/p>\n

Sunderland\u2019s midfield is weakened by AFCON<\/a> so they\u2019re missing Noah Sadiki\u2019s relentlessness, among others. But, Leeds\u2019 best midfield performances this season have come when it\u2019s Tanaka alongside Anton Stach<\/strong> and Ethan Ampadu<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t mind Aaronson, but Tanaka\u2019s class on the ball in all phases of play is something we might need in what\u2019s going to be a very difficult away day.<\/p>\n

Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Noah Okafor<\/p>\n

Up front, I think it\u2019s fairly clear who\u2019s going to start.<\/p>\n

Nmecha being back in the squad would be a great boost. That said, we need to manage his fitness so carefully, just like the red-hot Dominic Calvert-Lewin<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Six goals in five games is remarkable for Calvert-Lewin. Although, I\u2019m not that surprised given we\u2019re finally playing to his strengths. That is crossing the ball into the box at will, and going direct constantly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leeds United\u2019s Dominic Calvert-Lewin celebrates scoring his sixth goal in five games. (Action Images via Reuters\/Craig Brough)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny how much praise he\u2019s now getting. Because, his overall play has been this good all season<\/a>, he\u2019s just now finally getting his reward with good finishing at the end of it.<\/p>\n

Because Nmecha is still doubtful, Noah Okafor<\/strong> keeps his place. The left-winger was lively at Brentford and deserved a goal for his efforts. But, he also must to find consistency to nail his place.<\/p>\n

Okafor and his two brothers have recently started a YouTube channel<\/a> detailing behind the scenes of all three\u2019s lives. What intrigued me was Noah\u2019s brother Isaiah reflecting on Okafor\u2019s game against Liverpool. Isaiah noted his concern that the Leeds man starts brightly, but tails off significantly as games go on. It\u2019s something we\u2019ve all seen and it\u2019ll be interesting to see how the Swiss international rectifies it.<\/p>\n

Full Leeds United predicted XI to face Sunderland:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Read more: First Leeds United transfer decision confirmed ahead of January<\/a>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leeds United travel up to Sunderland on Sunday looking to end 2025 on a real high after this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,1385,25764,393,4884,1860,2922,142361,2958,142362,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-658880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-daniel-farke","10":"tag-elland-road","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-leeds","14":"tag-leeds-united","15":"tag-lufc","16":"tag-sunderland","17":"tag-the-whites","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115794716931534777","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}