Leeds United will be without Ethan Ampadu for the home clash with Manchester United as he picked up his fifth booking of the season.
United’s 2026 kicked off with a trip to Anfield. We faced an up-and-down Liverpool side eager for revenge after our last-gasp draw in December.
Despite Arne Slot’s struggles, it was always going to be a tough game with the embarrassment of riches the Reds have.
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A cagey game saw United’s multiple changes to the lineup perform relatively well, given the circumstances of our opponents.
Leeds frustrated the home side, but weren’t without their own openings as Dominic Calvert-Lewin thought he’d snatched it off the bench. Only, the Leeds sub was correctly flagged offside from a Sebastiaan Bornauw flick.
The Belgian, by the way, had a great game before a cruel injury stopped him from completing a full 90.
A tense end to added time saw the home side have all of the ball, but they found no way through pur stubborn and incredibly resolute rear guard.
A draw sees Leeds restore the seven-point gap over the relegation zone after West Ham’s point against Brighton.
Ethan Ampadu banned for Manchester United clash after fifth booking in Liverpool, Leeds United flashpoint
Chris Kavanagh had a shocker tonight, there’s no two ways about it. He had very little to do in the way of ‘difficult’ decisions, but still got plenty wrong.
Anton Stach was scythed down on the edge of their box, and he instead gave a drop-ball to Liverpool. Gabriel Gudmundsson was being thrown around constantly by Jeremie Frimpong and was getting nothing. But, one decision has actually cost Leeds going into the weekend against Manchester United was a booking for Ethan Ampadu.
Ethan Ampadu is now banned for Leeds United vs Manchester United. (REUTERS/Phil Noble)
The Leeds skipper brought down a dropping ball with the upper part of his outstretched arm on the edge of our box. What’s baffling is that he was seemingly under little pressure, but a brief lapse in judgement proved costly.
Kavanagh immediately dished out the Welshman’s fifth caution of the season, and thus sees him suspended for Man United.
The frustration for Leeds is that full-time tonight was the cut-off for five cards being the threshold. After match 19 is finished, a two-match suspensions comes for 10 cards.
Read more: 3 Dominic Calvert-Lewin backups Leeds United must pursue.