Leeds United manager Daniel Farke looking at Ao Tanaka
Credit: Imago
Niall Togher
Thu 11 September 2025 15:30, UK
Leeds United are back in Premier League action when they take on Fulham on Saturday.
Daniel Farke will be hoping his men put up more of a fight at Craven Cottage than they did in their last Premier League away game against Arsenal.
Whilst the Whites have been impressive at Elland Road so far, with Leeds’ solid 0-0 draw against Newcastle in their most recent game, they need to supplement this with some points when playing away.
With Jose Mourinho again being linked to the Leeds job, there is even more pressure on Farke’s shoulders to continue United’s impressive start to the season.
Leeds United manager Daniel Farke looking neutral
Credit: Imago
Ao Tanaka gives Leeds supporters hope with post on Instagram
Before the game with Fulham, Farke revealed that Lukas Nmecha is carrying an injury in his pre-game press conference.
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He also revealed that Tanaka and Ethan Ampadu could be involved, with the German manager waiting to see how the midfield pair react in the next 48 hours in the build-up to kick-off.
However, Tanaka’s cryptic post on Instagram has provided supporters with even more hope that the Japan international could feature against Fulham this weekend.
“I just turned 27,” Tanaka wrote, followed by, “See you soon”.
Ao Tanaka proved he is Premier League quality against Everton
Despite Tanaka starting the game against Arsenal, he only featured for 58 minutes before having to go off with an MCL injury.
This means the only substantial amount of Premier League minutes the midfielder has played were against Everton in the Whites’ first game of the season.
During this game, Tanaka proved exactly why he is and will continue to be such a big player for Leeds moving forward in their Premier League campaign.
Tanaka played two key passes during the match at Elland Road
He also managed to complete 42/46 passes he attempted, which gave him a 91% completion rate
Both of the long balls Tanaka attempted in that match were accurate
Although Farke will want to get Tanaka back in his team as quickly as possible, he certainly shouldn’t risk throwing the midfielder in too early and causing further damage.
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