Leeds United boss Daniel Farke seems to have picked Ethan Ampadu’s replacement and vowed his side will “scare” Arsenal with positive football at the Emirates.
Ethan Ampadu suffered an MCL knee injury in Monday’s win over Everton and will miss Saturday’s clash at the Emirates.
“It’s an MCL (medial cruciate ligament) injury. He will be out at least until the international break,” Farke confirmed.
“Normally, he’s back pretty quickly after injuries. Ethan is a big miss. There’s no doubt about this. We don’t have to lie and to sugarcoat the situation. But we will find the solutions.”
Attention now turns to the captaincy. Pascal Struijk wore the armband during Ampadu’s absences last season, and Farke has again singled him out as a leader.
“He was outstanding, a top performance,” Farke said of the defender’s display against Everton.
“Really like a colossus in the defence, he won many, many headers, but also Pascal is very good on the ball, good in the build-up, which is important and aggressive also in defending forward, good leadership.
“He was in the last season an outstanding player for us, he has proven his worth, and of course, he is also a big leader in the dressing room.”
That points to Struijk leading Leeds out at Arsenal, even if the bigger debate among fans is who will replace Ampadu in midfield. Ilia Gruev, Sean Longstaff and Anton Stach are all options, but Farke kept his cards close on that call.
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Preparations have at least been boosted by the arrival of Noah Okafor from AC Milan.
“He’s played for two big clubs in Italy (AC Milan and Napoli) and for RB Salzburg at Champions League level,” said Farke. “He is a player of high potential who has more or less all the skills.”
With Dominic Calvert-Lewin also signed, the Leeds boss insists “the big pressure is away” in attack but stressed there is “always more room for quality.”
The focus now is Arsenal away, and Farke has no intention of parking the bus.
“We won’t sell our DNA in the Premier League this season and park the bus,” he said. “If you just try to defend for 96 minutes or whatever, you have no chance to survive there.
“You have to make sure you have as many periods as possible where you also control the ball and can recover with possession, and let them shift and waste some energy against the ball.
“It’s important to try to create chances, to scare them and try to play positive football, but there will be periods where we suffer and we have to be well structured and compact.
“They have the highest ambitions, the highest demands. They want to play for every title; they’re one of the strongest opponents you can meet.”