I’m excited. Most Leeds United fans care little for Cups at this point, as promotion is the main goal to be focused on, but when the Whites are in the final 16 of a tournament (and when several other big name clubs will be knocked out before the Quarterfinals), we better be interested.
And so we have tonight, when Norwich City comes to Elland Road to play for a spot in the final 8 of the EFL Cup. We topped Fleetwood, Luton, and Rovers to get here, so it’s not like we’ve beaten the best of the best, but a win tonight over 4th place Norwich would be a sign we’re not to be messed with in 2016/17.
Liverpool vs. Tottenham will surely get the attention tonight, and Arsenal vs. Reading, Newcastle vs. Preston North End, and even Bristol vs. Hull City might get more press than Leeds and Norwich, but we do have TV streams available for you in the info below. Tomorrow, West Ham takes on Chelsea, Southampton plays Sunderland, and the Manchesters face off.
When we do top Norwich, the Quarterfinal draw is Wednesday night.
We’ll have all the info you need here in the gamethread throughout tonight’s tie, including lineups moments after they’re announced. Make sure you read James Mahoney’s preview here, and read about why Ben Mallis considers Norwich City our new most-hated rival. And as always, follow along at @ThruItAllLIVE for our live-tweets.
WHAT
Leeds United vs. Norwich City
EFL Cup Round Four
WHERE
Elland Road, Leeds
LUTV, BBC Radio Leeds, International Streams
WHEN
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
11:45am PT / 2:45pm ET / 7:45pm BT
WHO
Leeds United’s starting XI
Silvestri, Berardi, Bartley, Cooper, Coyle, Grimes, Mowatt, Vieira, Roofe, Doukara, Antonsson
Subs: Green, Taylor, Ayling, O’Kane, Sacko, Phillips, Wood
Norwich City’s starting XI
Ruddy, Godfrey, Bennett, Bassong, Brady, Tettey, Thompson, Jo. Murphy, Naismith, Pritchard, Oliveira
Subs: Jones, Dorrans, Canos, Lafferty, Turner, Morris, Ramsay
ODDS
Leeds 7/4
Draw 23/10
Norwich 6/4
PREDICTIONS
Johnny Wakefield: 3-1 Leeds. There’s no logical reason to predict this scoreline. I can’t honestly defend it. I just really want to see the Whites break out and score goals... in a game that Norwich might be looking past to focus on the League, while the fans at Elland Road convince our lads to show up. I hope Antonsson gets the start and finds the net, and let’s go with goals for Doukara and Sacko too. Ha. Living on the edge. I hate Norwich, let’s do this.
Ben Mallis: 2-0 Leeds. I’ve already rambled on about how much I hate Norwich, so I’ll keep this simple. Leeds win at home on a magical Tuesday night at Elland Road. That’s your Wednesday morning headline. Boy, I can’t wait to read all about it.
Matt Robinson: 1-1 Leeds on PKs. With a 20,000+ crowd ER will be rocking. I think we'll come out the traps flying and play well all game. Being Leeds though we'll concede a stupid goal at some point late on, Norwich are good enough to expose our frailties. We'll beat em on Penalties then, as long as Rob Green starts. If Monk gives it to Silvestri, we'll lose.
Jack Dudley: 2-1 Leeds. As a collective we seem to dislike Norwich, or as I call them, Leeds Utd 'B'. Ticket sales for this one have had a late surge and the crowd will be eager to see Leeds make a quarter final. Norwich are a good side but I'm hoping Garry takes this one seriously. Nervy ending, but we do it.
Sean Ryan: 2-1 Leeds, after extra time. We'll beat the pr*cks because we're better than the pr*cks. A chance for Monk to give more gametime to the likes of Roofe and Mowatt to really put down a marker. Roofe to score.
Joshua Gilbert: 3-0 Leeds. Norwich is a team with ambitions to get back into the Premier League, but I think this Cup is our chance to show the big clubs that Leeds is back. I expect a big game with big time results.
James Mahoney: 3-2 Leeds. I have the feeling the game is going to be a cracker and we are going to see a flurry of goals at Elland Road for the first time this season. With the ticket prices being lowered, Elland Road will be rocking and Leeds will be marching on into the last 8 of the EFL Cup.
And here’s how you’re feeling...
#EFLCup Round Four comes to Elland Road tonight... how do you see #LEEvNOR playing out? #LUFC #NCFC #MOT
— Through It All #LUFC (@ThruItAllLUFC) October 25, 2016
Let’s hope for party, our staff writers are strangely over-confident. See you in the comments. MOT.