Championship side Leeds United play host to Ligue 1 outfit Monaco at the LNER Community Stadium in York for a pre-season friendly on Saturday.
While the Whites are still searching for their first warm-up victory, the visitors are looking to claim their second in the space of four days after beating Real Betis on Wednesday.
Match preview
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Preparing for life back in the second tier following their relegation from the Premier League last season, Leeds have overseen plenty of changes from top to bottom at the football club, with the appointment of manager Daniel Farke followed by several first-team departures and the official takeover of the club by 49ers Enterprises.
Indeed, the EFL confirmed the sale of the West Yorkshire side to the San Francisco-based consortium last Monday, bringing an end to Andrea Radrizzani's six-year reign as the club's majority shareholder.
The focus can now shift towards duties on the pitch, with Farke currently preparing his Leeds side for just their second pre-season friendly of the summer, 10 days after losing their first by a 2-0 scoreline to Manchester United in Oslo.
The Whites struggled to pose a real threat in front of goal, but they managed to frustrate the Red Devils for three quarters of the contest before youngsters Noam Emeran and Joe Hugill came off the bench to help Erik ten Hag's side come out on top.
Leeds will now renew acquaintances with a Monaco side against whom they suffered a 4-2 friendly defeat at Elland Road this time last year. Fixtures against Nottingham Forest and Hearts will follow before the Whites begin the new Championship season at home to Cardiff City on August 6.
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Monaco, meanwhile, are hoping to put aside their disappointing end to the 2022-23 campaign, in which they lost their final three Ligue 1 matches and slipped to sixth in the table, failing to qualify for European competition altogether.
Philippe Clement was relieved of his duties last month and he has since been replaced by Austrian coach Adi Hutter, who returns to management after a year away from the dugout – the 53-year-old's last job was a 10-month spell with Borussia Monchengladbach between July 2021 and May 2022.
Monaco kick-started their pre-season preparations with a 1-1 home draw with Union SG two weeks ago, before suffering a 3-0 away defeat to another Belgian side in Cerele Brugge. However, the Les Rouge et Blanc picked up their first warm-up win against Real Betis on Wednesday, securing a 3-1 victory in a behind-closed-doors match at England's training complex St George's Park.
After a goalless first half, Kevin Volland (2) and Takumi Minamino fired Monaco into a three-goal lead before Raul Garcia netted a consolation header for Betis nine minutes from time.
Monaco's clash with Leeds represents their penultimate friendly fixture against English opposition, as they are scheduled to face Arsenal in the Emirates Cup in North London in between warm-up matches with Genoa and Bayern Munich, before beginning the new Ligue 1 season away to Clermont on August 13.
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Team News
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Leeds duo Stuart Dallas (leg) and Tyler Adams (thigh) remain sidelined with injuries, while Rodrigo, Joel Robles, Rasmus Kristensen and Marc Roca have all left the club since the last friendly match – the latter two joining Roma and Real Betis respectively on loan.
Wales international Ethan Ampadu became the Whites' first signing of the summer earlier this week, joining from Chelsea on a permanent deal, and the versatile midfielder will be in contention to feature on Saturday.
Farke used 21 different players in the friendly loss to Man United, and he is expected to rotate his side again throughout the contest with Monaco to ensure that as many players as possible get valuable minutes under their belt.
As for Monaco, they have also made just the one signing so far this summer, recruiting goalkeeper Philipp Kohn from Red Bull Salzburg, while Jean Marcelin, Arthur Zagre and Jean Lucas have all left the club permanently, the latter of whom joined Santos last weekend.
Centre-back Axel Disasi and midfielder Youssouf Fofana have both been linked with a possible move to the Premier League this summer, but both players remain with Hutter's squad for now and are in contention to feature against Leeds.
Breel Embolo, who scored twice against Leeds in the aforementioned 4-2 friendly win last year, is set to push captain Wissam Ben Yedder for a start in attack, while both Volland and Minamino will also be hoping to start after scoring in midweek.
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Klaesson; Ayling, Cooper, Wober, Firpo; Poveda, Gray, Shackleton, James; Bamford, Rutter
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Vanderson, Maripan, Disasi, Henrique; Lemarechal, Fofana; Martins, Minamino, Volland; Embolo
We say: Leeds United 2-3 Monaco
There was plenty of goalmouth action the last time that these two sides met 12 months ago, and another end-to-end contest could be on the cards this weekend.
Heading into this fixture as slight favourites, Monaco should have the firepower to outscore their opponents and follow up their midweek victory with another success in York.
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Oliver Thomas
