Preview: Leeds United vs. Hull City - prediction, team news, lineups

Leeds United will be looking to put their opening-day Premier League defeat to Liverpool behind them when they face Hull City in the second round of the EFL Cup on Wednesday.

Hull kicked off their League One campaign with a 2-0 victory over Gillingham, and a third-round clash with either West Ham United or Charlton Athletic lies in wait for the victors.

Match preview

Leeds ultimately came out on the wrong end of the scoreline following a seven-goal thriller at the home of reigning champions Liverpool, but notching up three goals at Anfield is a remarkable achievement in itself for a newly-promoted side.

Marcelo Bielsa's men should be looking ahead to the rest of the Premier League season with a sense of optimism, but the Whites must now turn their attention to the EFL Cup - a tournament which they have been knocked out of at the second-round stage in the previous two seasons.

Leeds have lifted the trophy once when Don Revie led the Whites to a 1-0 victory over Arsenal in the 1967-68 campaign, and Leeds have reached the final only once since, where they lost to Aston Villa 3-0 in 1996.

Stoke City and Preston North End have knocked the Premier League side out of the competition at this stage in the past two years, and while Bielsa will be expected to give some of his up-and-coming players a run-out on Wednesday, the Leeds faithful will be confident about their side's chances of advancing to the third round.

Hoping to spoil the Leeds party is Hull, who made the perfect start to life in League One with a comfortable 2-0 victory at Gillingham on Saturday.

The Tigers suffered a truly dismal end to the 2019-20 campaign as they finished rock bottom of the Championship table, during which they were also knocked out of the EFL Cup on penalties by Preston in the second round.

Grant McCann's side were made to work for their first-round victory over Sunderland and ultimately went through courtesy of a 5-4 penalty shootout victory, with Matt Ingram's save from Will Grigg proving decisive as Hull converted all of their spot-kicks.

However, the Tigers have been sent packing at this stage of the tournament during the last three seasons, although Hull did manage to reach the semi-finals of the 2016-17 edition, where they fell to eventual winners Manchester United.

Leeds did the double over the Tigers when the two sides were plying their trade in the Championship last season, with a 2-0 victory at Elland Road followed up by a 4-0 triumph at Hull back in February.

Leeds form (all competitions): L

Hull EFL Cup form: W
Hull form (all competitions): WLW

Team News

Leeds new boy and club-record signing Rodrigo Moreno could be in line for his first start in midweek, with Bielsa opting for Patrick Bamford to lead the line against Liverpool.

Fellow recent arrivals Cody Drameh and Joe Gelhardt will also be hopeful of getting some minutes on the board here, while Liam Cooper should return to the fold after missing out the clash with Liverpool through injury.

Illan Meslier has played well in between the sticks for the Whites recently, but should Bielsa opt for a change in goal, 19-year-old Elia Caprile could be given the chance to impress.

As for Hull, McCann will also be expected to shuffle the pack as Hull look ahead to their league fixture with Crewe Alexandra at the weekend.

Daniel Batty came off the bench against Gillingham and will be vying for a starting role here, while fellow youngsters Alfie Jones, Callum Jones and James Scott are all in contention to feature.

Leeds possible starting lineup:
Caprile; Drameh, Cooper, Koch, Davis; Struijk; Poveda, Shackleton, Klich, Harrison; Rodrigo

Hull possible starting lineup:
Ingram; Emmanuel, A. Jones, Burke, Fleming; Docherty, Batty; Wilks, C. Jones, Samuelsen; Magennis

We say: Leeds 2-0 Hull

Leeds proved that they are capable of mixing with the big boys following a dogged performance at the home of the champions, and while Hull dispatched Gillingham with relative ease at the weekend, Leeds will simply be too strong for the League One outfit and we are backing Bielsa's side to get the job done with minimal trouble on Wednesday.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:curl

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