Inside Elland Road: Longstaff and Rodon partnership
Leeds United head to the City Ground for a huge Premier League clash on Sunday.
Nottingham Forest midfielder Douglas Luiz looks set to miss Sunday’s game against Leeds United following an injury update from manager Sean Dyche.
Luiz was forced off just 14 minutes into Forest’s 2-2 draw at home to Manchester United last weekend, having appeared to suffer a hamstring injury. The Brazilian midfielder, who joined on loan from Juventus with a £25m purchase obligation, missed three weeks with a similar issue earlier this season.
Winger Callum Hudson-Odoi also suffered a dead leg during that weekend draw and has already been ruled out for Forest’s Europa League trip to Sturm Graz this evening. Former Leeds striker Chris Wood, meanwhile, remains sidelined with a knee injury while Oleksandr Zinchenko, Dilane Bakwa, Angus Gunn and Ola Aina are also currently out.
“Douglas Luiz is going to receive treatment,” Dyche said on Wednesday. “That is not likely to be a quick situation; we are waiting on more news. Callum is hopefully going to be slightly easier. He won’t be for this game, but we will see how it goes for the weekend.
“The international break is going to be important for a few players, to give them more of a chance to get fit. Woody is making good progress. We are without 11, I think - not just injuries but also some of the lads who couldn’t make this [Europa League] squad list.”
Alongside a growing injury list, Forest also have to manage the fixture congestion that comes with being involved in Europe. Dyche’s side are currently in Austria for tonight’s meeting with Sturm Graz and will have just two full days before Leeds head to the City Ground on Sunday.
Nottingham Forest ‘risk-reward’ ahead of Leeds United meeting
Forest dropped to 19th in the Premier League last weekend despite that draw against Manchester United, a huge drop off from last season. Sunday’s meeting with Leeds is therefore already looking like a huge opportunity for one side to build momentum and keep another relegation rival down going into the November international break.
“The games are big games for different reasons,” Dyche added. “This [the Europa League] means a lot to the club, the history of the club and the fans. We are certainly taking it seriously.
Read More
“But we have to look at the next game as well because it is very, very important. The Premier League is your bread and butter at the end of the day. It is the thing the club was striving for for all those years to get back into.
“It has been a very tough period to sustain what they did last year, that’s quite obvious. It’s about correcting that. We have had good signs, performance wise. But we have got to turn that into wins.
“But we are thin on numbers, so it’s a risk and reward - playing players in both games, but some players are going to need to play certain segments of both. We will have to wait and see how we can manage it the best we can, depending on the scoreline and everything. They are both big games for different reasons.”
Continue Reading