Leeds United face a Newcastle United side looking depleted after their damaging 3-2 defeat at home to Liverpool, but the Magpies still arrive at Elland Road brimming with Champions League quality.
The Whites’ hugely positive mood to start the campaign with a win at home to Everton has been brought back down thanks to two defeats since, one unsurprising result away at Arsenal and the other an embarrassment in the EFL Cup against Sheffield Wednesday’s youth side.
It doesn’t get any easier for Leeds as they face a Newcastle United side that qualified for the Champions League under Eddie Howe and have spent £126million to consolidate their position.
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Newcastle United facing selection issues as Leeds United look to get back on track
Leeds’ injury dilemmas aren’t ideal this weekend with two of Daniel Farke’s starting midfielders from the win against Everton out until after the international break: Ethan Ampadu and Ao Tanaka.
However, they face a Magpies side that are facing something of a mini crisis this weekend after their late defeat at home to Liverpool.
Anthony Gordon won’t feature against Leeds United after his red card on Monday. (Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith)
Anthony Gordon is banned after his awful challenge on Virgil van Dijk saw VAR intervene for a red card, before Fabian Schar was forced off with a concussion substitution, ruling him out due to protocol.
Joelinton was unable to complete the game, while fellow midfielder Sandro Tonali suffered an injury to his shoulder too.
The big question is what will come of Alexander Isak, who has been on strike since pre-season in order to pursue a transfer to Liverpool, and hasn’t featured so far this season amidst serious tension between the Swede and his current employers.
Danger man Anthony Elanga could still be one to watch as Leeds United face Newcastle United
Despite all these fresh issues for Howe to contend with, he’s still got a side that could cause untold problems for Leeds’ back four.
Included in that is £55million summer signing Anthony Elanga, who has already demonstrated a key attribute that was integral to his stunning performances in a Nottingham Forest shirt.
(Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith)
After two games in the Premier League, Elanga sits fifth in the league for fastest sprint at 35.3km/h (per Fotmob), and if the Magpies play with the same intensity as they did against Arne Slot’s Liverpool, it’ll be a tough battle at Elland Road down United’s left.
Up against Elanga will be his international teammate Gabriel Gudmundsson, who had a strong debut against Everton before being up against it at the Emirates, and it doesn’t get any more straightforward for him.
If Leeds allow a lot of turnovers in dangerous positions as they did against Arsenal, it could be long afternoon again for Gudmundsson against Elanga, even if he’s not to blame for having so much to deal with.
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