Leeds United will be looking to progress to the third round of the EFL Cup when they welcome League One outfit Crewe Alexandra to Elland Road on Tuesday night.
The Whites will enter the match off the back of a 2-2 draw with Everton in the Premier League on Saturday, while Crewe suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Accrington Stanley on the same afternoon.
Match preview
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Leeds were thumped 5-1 by Manchester United on the opening weekend of the 2021-22 Premier League season and twice fell behind to Everton during an entertaining contest at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.
Marcelo Bielsa's side managed to recover from the one-goal deficit on both occasions, though, with Raphinha scoring the goal that ultimately secured a point for Leeds, who will be desperate to avoid the dreaded second-season syndrome in the Premier League after such an impressive 2020-21 campaign.
The Whites will travel to Burnley next weekend in their final Premier League match of the month, and the league will once again be the priority for the club this term, but it would be one of the shocks of the round if Bielsa's team were unable to negotiate their way past Crewe here.
Leeds have only ever won this competition on one previous occasion, back in 1968, and they went out in the second round of the EFL Cup last season on penalties to Hull City.
The Whites last locked horns with Crewe during the 2008-09 League One season and recorded two victories, including a 5-2 success when the pair met at Elland Road in September 2008.
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Crewe, meanwhile, recorded a 1-0 victory over Hartlepool United in the first round of this season's EFL Cup on August 10, with Callum Ainley finding the back of the net in the early stages of the second period.
The Railwaymen, who finished 12th in League One last season, have had a tough start to their league campaign, though, picking up just one point from their matches, and they will enter this fixture off the back of three straight defeats to Portsmouth, Oxford United and Accrington without scoring a goal.
David Artell's side will view Saturday's trip to Charlton Athletic as a much more important game than the EFL Cup contest with Leeds, but Tuesday's fixture provides the opportunity to claim a big scalp in the competition.
Crewe have reached the third round of the League Cup on 10 previous occasions, most recently in 2008, but they will be the huge underdogs to progress against Leeds, despite the fact that the hosts are expected to make wholesale changes to their starting XI at Elland Road.
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Team News
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Leeds are again expected to be without the services of Robin Koch and Diego Llorente through injury, while Bielsa will make a number of changes from the side that featured against Everton.
There could be a debut between the sticks for Kristoffer Klaesson, while Tyler Roberts and Jamie Shackleton, who both appeared off the bench on Saturday, are in line for starts.
Adam Forshaw, Helder Costa and Rodrigo are among the senior players who are likely to be handed minutes, while youngsters Crysencio Summerville and Charlie Cresswell could both be included.
As for Crewe, head coach Artell will make changes from the side that started Saturday's league clash against Accrington, with one eye on their next League One game against Charlton.
Will Jaaskelainen, Josh Lundstram, Billy Sass-Davies, Callum McFadzean and Finney are all expected to be introduced into the starting XI for the EFL Cup fixture.
The visitors will be without the services of Luke Offord, though, following his red card against Accrington, so Sass-Davies could be joined in the middle of the back four by Terell Thomas.
Leeds United possible starting lineup:
Klaesson; Ayling, Struijk, Cresswell, Firpo; Costa, Shackleton, Forshaw, Rodrigo; Roberts; Summerville
Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:
Jaaskelainen; Ramsay, Sass-Davies, Thomas, McFadzean; Lundstram, MacDonald, Ainley; Long, Porter, Dale
We say: Leeds United 2-0 Crewe Alexandra
Both managers will make a number of their changes from their league fixtures at the weekend, but we are struggling to see past Leeds here. A number of Bielsa's fringe players will be keen to prove a point, and we are expecting a relatively comfortable progression into the third round for the Premier League club.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Leeds United win with a probability of 58.86%. A draw had a probability of 21.7% and a win for Crewe Alexandra had a probability of 19.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Leeds United win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.01%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.95%) and 2-0 (9.74%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.23%), while for a Crewe Alexandra win it was 0-1 (5.27%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 6.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Leeds United would win this match.
