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Leeds United face Bundesliga side Augsburg at Elland Road tomorrow afternoon in our final pre-season friendly before the Premier League season. This Saturday sees United return to Elland Road after a midweek Croke Park friendly against Man Utd. A 1-1 draw against Champions League opposition was another step in the right direction. For Daniel Farke, the final friendly of his summer schedule is the last chance to sharpen his squad before the Premier League season starts. So, this clash with Augsburg represents Farke’s chance to set his side up with a view to Nottingham Forest on the opening day. Here, I predict the starting XI against Augsburg that Farke will name… Goalkeeper: James Trafford We only saw 45 minutes of James Trafford in Dublin. But, my word. Again, you should never get too high or too low when watching pre-season, especially through my Guinness-sponsored rose-tinted glass. That said, we saw everything that we hoped to see from Trafford at Croke Park. There were a handful of saves, including an incredible tip around the post from a Bryan Mbeumo shot that was heading for the bottom corner. His distribution was brilliant too. He looked so casual on the ball, whether it’s short or long, high or low. There was a stunning clip over halfway that landed right on the toes of Rhys Chadwick that got us purring in Hill 16. A goalkeeper that looks so composed will have a naturally positive impact on the defence in front of him too. Calmness is what we’ve needed. Defence: Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol, Tarik Muharemovic The two main talking points from the back three have been the right and left centre-back. Jaka Bijol in the middle is what we know, a very strong and reliable presence that provides a foundation for the other two. But first with Joe Rodon, I’ve been really impressed with his evolution into a Chris Wilder-inspired overlapping centre-back role. We saw it in that decimation of Crystal Palace back in December, but it’s becoming sharper and more refined this pre-season, with more emphasis. Given Rodon’s blistering pace, it’s a role that suits him. On the left, Tarik Muharemovic has proven every bit the Pascal Struijk replacement (upgrade, maybe?) that we needed. He looks equal parts gritty in defence and elegant on the ball. The Bosnian’s range of passing needs to be captialised on with runners higher up the pitch, too. Midfield: Jayden Bogle, Anton Stach, Ethan Ampadu, James Justin Keeping with the theme of our right-hand side looking encouraging, I’m still delighted with Jayden Bogle’s influence. Again in Dublin, he was one of our best on the ball and will continue to be a vital presence in possession. On the other flank, Gabriel Gudmundsson won’t be fit this weekend and is unlikely to be fit for Forest, so James Justin is our only cover. My message to the club: sign a left-back. I love Justin, but there’s only so many positions he can cover at once, and it’s currently three. In midfield, given that it’s a 3-4-2-1 (on paper), it’s a duo of Ethan Ampadu and Anton Stach, and there’s no debate. Shoutout to Sean Longstaff for a strong pre-season, but Leeds have a top-eight standard duo in Ampadu and Stach and we should see them start here. Attack: Harry Wilson, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Dan James In attack, as I said above, there’s a need to have runners to get in behind in this attack. So, with Noah Okafor visibly nowhere near starting fitness, Dan James probably has to get the nod. It’s so harsh that Willy Gnonto can’t get in, but I’ve given up on that being a thing. James with a pre-season behind him hopefully has shaken off his injuries from last season, and could be the runner we need. His pressing set up our equaliser at Croke Park. On the right, it’s obviously going to be Harry Wilson that’s our main starter. The Welshman hasn’t set the world alight, but it’s obvious that if you look at the positions he occupies and how he’s already connecting out wide, it looks a very good fit. Up front is Dominic Calvert-Lewin. After a barn-storming first season here, Calvert-Lewin has a huge opportunity to start brightly with a pre-season behind him. He’s our undisputed starter and that excites me and worries me in fairly equal measure. We have a top-half striker when fit, but those two words are so important. Leeds cannot afford to rely solely on Calvert-Lewin’s fitness for another season. Full Leeds United predicted XI to face Augsburg: