Sports Mole previews Friday’s friendly clash between Harrogate Town and Leeds United, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Leeds United continue their preparations for the new Championship campaign with a friendly against fellow Yorkshire side Harrogate Town on Friday night.
While the visitors have eyes on promotion to the Premier League, their hosts are warming up for another season in League Two.
Match preview
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On the back of losing the Championship playoff final and the extent of the sales that have had to be facilitated, Leeds only began pre-season training in the middle of July.
That is far later than all of their rivals, yet Daniel Farke will hope that the shortened preparation time may stand them in good stead at the back end of the campaign.
Seeing Archie Gray and Glen Kamara depart will have come as a blow to Leeds fans, regardless of the money that both deals generated, and there is a real sense that the team will have a different look come the start of the season.
The major plus of the summer thus far is Joe Rodon being signed on a permanent deal, while the acquisition of Bournemouth midfielder Joe Rothwell has gone under the radar.
Leeds have just three friendlies on their schedule, Friday’s encounter being followed by showdowns against Guiseley and Valencia.
Opponents Harrogate Town have six games to play before they return to competitive action, with just the one taking place thus far.
In the first of five matches in July, Simon Weaver‘s team went down by a 3-2 scoreline at home to Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
This is the headline act of the friendly schedule, yet Harrogate still have clashes against the likes of Sheffield United and Middlesbrough to look forward to before July 31.
On Tuesday, Sunderland winger Ellis Taylor became the latest player to join the club, following Queens Park Rangers midfielder Stephen Duke-McKenna and Maidenhead United defender Zico Asare.
Harrogate Town friendly form:
Team News
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Given their business off the pitch, Leeds’ starting lineup for this game is a complete unknown, with Farke likely to limit each player’s game time to no more than an hour.
Rodon and Rothwell could be handed roles in the first XI, while goalkeeper Alex Cairns – who has joined from Salford City – may hope to feature in the second half.
As for Harrogate, Weaver gave all of his outfield players between 45 and 60 minutes as they tested Huddersfield last weekend.
Asare and Duke-McKenna both played the first half, the latter getting on the scoresheet, and Taylor will presumably be handed some minutes having arrived a few days ago.
We say: Harrogate Town 0-3 Leeds United
With this game taking place in front of a passionate crowd, we expect a competitive encounter between these sides. However, that should only motivate Leeds to work harder to avoid a surprise defeat, leading us to predict a convincing away win.
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