{"id":716169,"date":"2026-01-23T21:37:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/716169\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T21:37:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:37:03","slug":"predicted-xi-and-team-news-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/716169\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicted XI and team news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leeds United<\/a> travel to Everton<\/a> this Monday night looking to get back-to-back wins and move a step closer to Premier League safety.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Whites have an ideal nine-day gap between games this week after our huge 1-0 home win against Fulham last time out. <\/p>\n

Daniel Farke<\/a> described it as the best win of the season. And I\u2019m fully on board, because every next win from hereon is the best of the season, pulling us closer to survival.<\/p>\n

Most Read on LeedsAllOver<\/p>\n

Leeds United team news confirmed pre-Everton: Gabriel Gudmundsson back, Anton Stach boost<\/p>\n

A key issue for Farke as he prepares his side for Monday is at left-back. Summer signing Gabriel Gudmundsson<\/a> has suffered a minor adductor issue this week that leaves him a doubt for our trip to Merseyside.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leeds United left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson is an injury doubt for Monday night\u2019s trip to Everton. (REUTERS\/Scott Heppell)<\/p>\n

The Swede missed training and is a question mark for Everton, while Jaka Bijol is also still ruled out through injury.<\/p>\n

More positively, Leeds have welcomed back Anton Stach to team training while Dan James is being reintegrated too. The German is in contention to feature at the Hill Dickinson Stadium while James needs time to get back up to fitness.<\/p>\n

Here, I predict the lineup I expect from Farke as we make our way to Everton on Monday\u2026<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper: Karl Darlow<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be totally honest. From my perch in the South Stand against Fulham, Karl Darlow<\/strong> put in a performance that was getting Lucas Perri slated from every corner of the fanbase.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leeds United\u2019s Karl Darlow is expected to stay in goal. (Action Images via Reuters\/Ed Sykes)<\/p>\n

His usually solid distribution was poor, and even though he had barely anything to do, he nearly gifted Fulham a golden chance as he inexplicably headed the ball straight to Emile Smith-Rowe. If the Brazilian does that, he\u2019s getting dogs abuse.<\/p>\n

That being said, it\u2019s not as though Darlow has consistently been shaky. So, I\u2019m more than happy to give him the benefit of the doubt and start him at Everton.<\/p>\n

I get the impression Farke is not going to give Perri nearly the same amount of tether that he did Illan Meslier last season<\/a>. So, I think he sticks with Darlow.<\/p>\n

Defence: Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Sebastiaan Bornauw, Pascal Struijk, James Justin<\/p>\n

This Gudmundsson scare may well be fine and he could start on Monday. However, I don\u2019t think we\u2019re in a position as a squad to take that risk.<\/p>\n

\"\"Leeds United\u2019s James Justin will keep his place in the lineup after Gabriel Gudmundsson\u2019s setback. (REUTERS\/Chris Radburn)<\/p>\n

That\u2019s especially the case when we have James Justin<\/strong> as backup. A signing who continues to prove he was a very smart pickup by the club<\/a>. He\u2019s played on the right, left and centre of the defence and barely put a foot wrong, long may that continue.<\/p>\n

Gudmundsson coming out leads me to believe Sebastiaan Bornauw<\/strong> comes in to replace him. He\u2019d be slotting in between Joe Rodon<\/strong> and Pascal Struijk<\/strong> at centre-back. The Belgian has a task on his hands to stifle one of Thierno Barry or Beto (or both). The Everton duo represent significant physical challenges for Bornauw. That said, Bornauw\u2019s held his own since being called upon.<\/p>\n

On the right, Jayden Bogle<\/strong> of course keeps his place.<\/p>\n

Midfield: Anton Stach, Ethan Ampadu, Ilia Gruev<\/p>\n

In an ideal world, this is a game tailor-made for Sean Longstaff to make his return to the starting lineup. I\u2019d be absolutely buzzing if he were fit enough, but I just can\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n

So, that means Ilia Gruev<\/strong> keeps his place. He\u2019s going to have to put in a shift on our makeshift left-hand side with Justin.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ilia Gruev and Anton Stach could start for Leeds United away vs Everton. (Action Images via Reuters\/Lee Smith)<\/p>\n

I fancy Anton Stach<\/strong> to be fit enough to start, though. He strikes me as someone who could quickly shake off such an issue and be ready to put in another big shift. Stach could be a difference-maker in the middle.<\/p>\n

Anchoring the side is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League<\/a> right now: our skipper Ethan Ampadu<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Forwards: Brenden Aaronson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin<\/p>\n

Given it\u2019s an away game and we\u2019re going to need a focal point throughout the 90 minutes, I can\u2019t see Lukas Nmecha starting, despite his winner against Fulham.<\/p>\n

Dominic Calvert-Lewin<\/strong> obviously gets the nod against his former club, and it\u2019ll be interesting to see how he\u2019s received on Merseyside. There\u2019ll be some pantomime villain booing of course, because the Toffees fanbase boo things like it\u2019s going out of fashion. But, I\u2019d hope he\u2019s even somewhat acknowledged for his service there.<\/p>\n

That being said, I also hope he wipes the floor with their defence. <\/p>\n

Up front with him, I think it\u2019s another game \u2013 like St James\u2019 Park<\/a> \u2013 where Brenden Aaronson<\/strong> can thrive in that semi-free role supporting Calvert-Lewin.<\/p>\n

His ruthlessness on the ball is such a brilliant sight at the moment. And, I\u2019d fancy him to keep finding pockets to cause teams trouble.<\/p>\n

That means dropping \u00a318million summer signing Noah Okafor<\/a> to the bench. I like what Okafor can bring to Leeds with his directness and trickery on the left wing, but he leaves me wanting so much more when he plays up front in a 3-5-2, unable to play with his back to goal, something Farke did touch upon in his pre-match presser.<\/p>\n

Saving him for the final 20 minutes could be a masterstroke, allowing him the chance to run at tired legs.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/p>\n

Read more: Value of Leeds United\u2019s Jorgen Strand Larsen bid revealed.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leeds United travel to Everton this Monday night looking to get back-to-back wins and move a step closer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,1385,25764,393,11817,4884,1860,2922,142361,142362,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-716169","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-everton","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-leeds","15":"tag-leeds-united","16":"tag-lufc","17":"tag-the-whites","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115946576106670089","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716169","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=716169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}