Leeds United will bid to continue an unbeaten start to the Championship season and make it back-to-back victories on Saturday, when they welcome Yorkshire rivals Hull City to Elland Road.
The hosts put their first win of the campaign on the board last Friday, while their visitors have drawn each of their opening three league outings.
Match preview
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Leeds United return to Elland Road on Saturday in search of consecutive Championship victories, in their bid to establish themselves as frontrunners from the outset this term.
After falling short in the playoff final last season and experiencing plenty of changes to their squad over the summer, Daniel Farke's side set out to go one better this term and seal a return to England's top flight, but they had to endure somewhat of a slow start.
Indeed, the Yorkshire giants settled for a point in each of their first two second-tier outings, coming from behind to draw 2-2 with newly-promoted Portsmouth and playing out a goalless stalemate with West Bromwich Albion either side of a 3-0 home cup defeat to Middlesbrough.
Then aiming to kick on from that tough opening run, Farke's men most recently visited Hillsborough to take on rivals Sheffield Wednesday last Friday and put a first notch in their wins column, taking all three points from a 2-0 victory as Brenden Aaronson opened the scoring in the 24th minute and Daniel James doubled the lead immediately after the interval.
Now rejuvenated by a dominant away performance and a first three-point haul, Leeds United will set out to make it back-to-back triumphs in another Yorkshire derby on Saturday.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, will also bid to extend an unbeaten start to their league campaign, albeit having not yet managed a victory in three Championship outings.
Hull City headed into the 2024-25 term under new management, with Tim Walter having replaced Liam Rosenior over the summer, and they are yet to get truly up and running on the back of a seventh-placed finish last time around.
The new boss' tenure began with 1-1 draws against Bristol City and Plymouth Argyle, either side of a 2-1 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in the EFL Cup first round, having come from behind to earn shares of the spoils in those second-tier contests.
Millwall then visited the MKM Stadium on Saturday, with both sides in search of a first victory of the Championship season, but the Tigers again had to settle for a point as neither side managed to break the deadlock in East Yorkshire.
Hull City now face the tough trip to Elland Road on Saturday with the aim of kickstarting their campaign and life under Walter with a first competitive win to move onto six points.
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Team News
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After an impressive performance and 2-0 victory away at Sheffield Wednesday last time out, Daniel Farke should field an unchanged Leeds United starting XI on Saturday, despite Manor Solomon and Largie Ramazani having arrived to bolster their attacking options.
Mateo Joseph should again get the nod to lead the line with support from the trio of Willy Gnonto, Brenden Aaronson and Daniel James, with Aaronson having scored two of their four Championship goals so far this term.
Elsewhere, Ilia Gruev will continue to join captain Ethan Ampadu in the engine room despite competition from Joe Rothwell, while Jayden Bogle, Joe Rodon, Pascal Struijk and Junior Firpo are bound to line up in an unaltered back four.
Hull City will remain without wingers Ryan Longman and Dogukan Sinik on Saturday due to injuries, and Tim Walter is unlikely to make many changes to his starting XI from last weekend's draw with Millwall.
Xavier Simons will fight to come back into the midfield, after Regan Slater joined summer signings Oscar Zambrano and Marvin Mehlem last time out, while fellow new arrivals Charlie Hughes and Finley Burns may again have to settle for places off the bench after Alfie Jones and Sean McLoughlin saw out a clean sheet in that game.
If striker Oscar Estupinan remains sidelined alongside Longman and Sinik, Chris Bedia will compete to earn a full debut and displace Mason Burstow up front at the weekend.
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Meslier; Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Firpo; Ampadu, Gruev; James, Aaronson, Gnonto; Joseph
Hull City possible starting lineup:
Pandur; Coyle, Jones, McLoughlin, Giles; Mehlem, Slater, Zambrano; Omur, Bedia, Millar
We say: Leeds United 2-0 Hull City
While Hull City have shown their defensive solidity so far this term, conceding just two goals in their first three league outings, they face their toughest test thus far on Saturday and may struggle to match a rejuvenated Leeds United side at Elland Road.
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Sam Varley
