Leeds vs Newcastle - Predicted line-ups and match preview
After finding a way past Millwall on Tuesday night, Newcastle are back in Premier League action on Monday with a trip to Elland Road.
Matthias Jaissle’s Mags head into this one unbeaten in five games across all competitions this season, accumulating five points from their opening three Premier League matches after 2-2 draws with Liverpool and Bournemouth either side of our 2-0 win at Spurs.
It’s been a familiar story for Leeds in their opening games, where they’ve followed an opening-day win at Nottingham Forest with two 1-1 draws against Brentford and Brighton. They did, however, take a beating in midweek, losing 6-3 to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup despite starting the game brightly.
Our unbeaten start brings big positives: we look united, we battle until the end, highlighted by recent late goals, we've seen players improve under Jaissle (Wissa and Elanga) and clean sheets in both of our away games so far.
However, for balance, we have only managed four shots on target in our last two league games, we were lucky to avoid defeat after looking wide open against Bournemouth and were blunt in attack for much of Tuesday's 1-0 win at Millwall, which saw us have plenty of the ball without penetrating.
Perform as we did at Millwall or in our last league game against Bournemouth and our unbeaten run will likely end at Leeds, highlighting our need to improve despite a largely positive start to 2026/27.
Who starts?
Predicted Newcastle XI: Hornicek - Dedic, Thiaw, Botman, Hall - Gonzalez, Ramsey - Elanga, Willock, Barnes - Wissa.
It feels like there are three dilemmas for Jaissle heading to Elland Road.
- Will Amar Dedic be fit enough to start at right-back?
- Will it be Ramsey, Miley or Steur alongside Gonzalez in midfield?
- Will Matias Fernandez-Pardo be handed his first start?
At right-back, Dedic's hamstring issue is thought to be minor. Mix this with his precautionary substitution on Tuesday and the fact that we don't play until Monday, I think he has every chance of being fine.
In midfield, Lewis Miley struggled against Bournemouth, where we didn't look mobile enough without the ball, and I'm not sure 18-year-old Sean Steur will be thrown into what is likely to be a big physical battle. I therefore think we'll see Jacob Ramsey get another start, operating in a box-to-box role just ahead of Nico Gonzalez, who will need to up his game.
In attack, Fernandez-Pardo is pushing to start in the No.9 role, which could see Yoane Wissa play as a second striker, but I think we'll see Joe Willock again and another MFP cameo. I expect our new £51m man to start against Hull next Saturday, however.
Predicted Leeds XI: Trafford - Justin, Elvedi, Muharemovic - Bogle, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gudmundsson - Stach, Calvert-Lewin, Okafor.
Who wins?
It will be a big atmosphere under the lights, Leeds will be at it, and we'll have to stand strong defensively, compete far better in midfield than we did last weekend and show improved combinations and quality in the final third to cause problems against a Leeds defence that have conceded just twice in three league games so far.
A boring prediction, but I think we'll see another draw here, although I do fear a first defeat of 2026/27 if we don't up our game at both ends of the pitch following warning signs in our last two.
Prediction: Leeds 1-1 Newcastle
Howay the lads!
