So, how do you approach tonight?
Given how easily we dispatched of Stoke City on Saturday, you could make the argument that we should just play the same team again, hopefully get the same result and see ourselves through to the next round with no problems at all. But you know what they say about lightning never striking twice, I think we might be asking too much for the exact same result twice in the space of a few days.
I suppose it really depends on how important you view the competition. With the board demanding promotion, and putting the tools in place to finish what they started last year, it’s pretty obvious that cup competitions aren’t the main priority right now for the club. That logic would dictate that tonight should be used for what the League Cup has traditionally been used for, that’s resting and rotating players.
At the same time though, you can also make the argument that you should want to keep the momentum going for this weekend’s game against Swansea City. Whilst it’s a little too early to see this game as a ‘promotion six-pointer’, it’s still important to get as many points on the board early when you’re presented with the chance, that way you’re not relying on results and chasing points at the end of the season.
With that in mind, I think Leeds should go somewhere in the middle, in fact I’d go for more or less the same team that played against Salford in the first round. That way you’ve got a good mix of first-team players who played this past weekend, and some fresh legged players who are eager to break into the starting eleven on a regular basis.
Although one small tweak, I’d go for Illan Meslier in goal over Kiko Casilla, we’re going to have to see him sooner or later, might as well make it tonight.
What do you think? Do you think Leeds should go full strength? Make a couple of changes here and there? Or just play the Under 18s and get this whole competition out the way as soon as possible?