Leeds United made it back-to-back wins over Nottingham Forest in the space of four days as goals from Daniel James and James Justin sealed a 2-0 victory at the City Ground and sent Daniel Farke's side into the third round of the EFL Cup.

Leeds returned to the scene of Anton Stach's late 1-0 Premier League triumph on the opening weekend with an entirely different look to their starting XI, handing debuts and starts to a host of new signings. Daniel James, Noah Okafor, Ao Tanaka and Lukas Nmecha were all handed starts, while summer arrival Nico Elvedi made his debut at the back alongside Joe Rodon.

James and Justin settle the tie

Leeds had to wait until the 50th minute to make the breakthrough, when James collected Sean Longstaff's pass before crashing an effort beyond Matz Sels from inside the area. James Justin then made sure of the win in the 75th minute, squeezing the ball over the line following a goalmouth scramble sparked by Ethan Ampadu's long throw.

The result ended a run that had seen Leeds fail to reach the third round of the competition since the 2022-23 season, and Rodon was quick to highlight both the strength in depth of Farke's squad and the quality of James' display after an injury-hit 2025-26 campaign.

"Injuries are a part of the game, we know what he's capable of, he [James] showed his quality and had a great finish. We need everyone, it's a long season, the ability in the squad is unbelievable, we need everyone together."

"We want to change the mentality, grow again as a group and win as many games as we can. The signings have been top, we want to continue with this momentum."

Dominant display backed by the data

Leeds were deserving winners, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 2.26 from their 13 shots compared to Forest's 0.86 from eight attempts. As a top-flight outfit, Forest have now won just one of their last 10 EFL Cup ties against fellow top-flight teams, losing seven of those, and have been eliminated in each of the past four when facing Premier League opposition.

The defeat leaves Oliver Glasner still waiting for his first competitive win in charge of Forest.

Wood addresses imminent Delap arrival

Ahead of kick-off, reports emerged that Forest are closing in on a club-record £50m move for Chelsea striker Liam Delap, who has fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge. Delap managed just three goals in 47 appearances across all competitions for the Blues, but captain Chris Wood believes his potential arrival adds genuine quality to the attack.

"We're an ambitious club and that shows with what we're spending on players like him [Delap]. It will be fantastic to get Liam through the door. Hopefully it gets all signed. He will be great for our team, and it is healthy competition, and we will be better players for it."

"It's one of those mistakes that happen in games, but we're here to try and help support our players. It's frustrating, but we move and keep progressing. We know where we want to be, but we know we have to keep working hard on the training pitch because the games are coming thick and fast."