Familiar foes, signings and hints - What to do look out for during Leeds United's pre-season tour

Leeds United will head to Australia this month as Jesse Marsch’s side step up their preparations for the new Premier League season. The Whites will spend around two weeks Down Under with their time being split between Gold Coast, Brisbane and Perth.

They’ll take in three friendlies during their time in Australia, too, with games against Brisbane Roar, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace on their schedule before they return home to face Cagliari in their final friendly at Elland Road before the campaign starts. United are no strangers to the Southern Hemisphere and they last made the trip back in 2019, taking in visits to Perth and Sydney.

As Leeds prepare themselves to make the trip, here’s a few things for fans to look out for during the tour.

There isn’t much Leeds don’t know about Villa and Palace. The pair will provide solid opposition and Marsch will certainly want to see his side tested and challenged as they prepare for the road ahead.

Steven Gerrard may look to blood some new faces when the teams meet at the Suncorp Stadium, with Diego Carlos and Boubacar Kamara amongst their new signings, while Patrick Vieira may hope to have some fresh additions secured by that stage, too. However, the most familiar new signing taking on Leeds this summer will be in the colours of Brisbane Roar.

Earlier this week, Charlie Austin agreed a multi-year deal with the A-League club following his release from QPR and it seems he could be set to make his first appearance Down Under against Leeds. Austin hasn’t come up against Leeds for some time now, but having scored five goals in seven appearances against the club, Whites supporters will know all about him.

He’ll be desperate to add to that tally on July 14 in Gold Coast, should he play