This week’s international break should allow Leeds United and Daniel Farke to regain composure for the rest of the Premier League survival battle, hopefully getting everyone back to top speed.
Our 0-0 draw against Brentford solidified two key talking points for Leeds at the moment.
The first is that we’re looking a much more solid defensive setup than both West Ham and Spurs. The second is that we’re also looking devoid of creativity to turn draws into wins.
Can Noah Okafor jumpstart Leeds United’s stale attacking structure under Daniel Farke?
Given the results on Sunday, Daniel Farke will be happy with a draw and clean sheet to move four points clear of the bottom three.
However, it’s obvious that Farke needs to find better solutions to our lack of attacking bite. No open play Premier League goals since February 10th, which came by virtue of a howler mistake from Chelsea’s goalkeeper.
Importantly though, it’s no coincidence that our last open play goal came thanks to Noah Okafor. The Swiss winger has been injured of late and returned to the side off the bench against Brentford.
He had very little say on the stalemate on Saturday night with just four touches. But, in providing Leeds with natural width and thrust, should inherently improve our variety and threat in the final third going forward.
Leeds United star Noah Okafor drafted into Switzerland squad after teammate’s injury
After making his way back into the squad for Brentford, Okafor has announced his availability for Leeds in the final seven league games of the season.
Interestingly, his form prior to injury had seen Switzerland manager Murat Yakin bury whatever prejudices he had with the Leeds star.
The issue, though, is that Okafor’s fitness concerns in March initially left him unfortunately left out of the Swiss squad. He was set to miss out of pre-World Cup friendlies against Anton Stach’s Germany, and Norway. But, Okafor has now been brought in as a result of Filip Ugrinic’s injury setback.
ℹ️ Filip Ugrinić fällt verletzungsbedingt aus und verpasst den Zusammenzug. Für ihn nominiert Nationaltrainer Murat Yakin Noah Okafor nach, der am Samstag nach seiner Verletzung erstmals wieder auf dem Platz stand.
ℹ️ Filip Ugrinić est forfait en raison d’une blessure et…
— 🇨🇭 Nati (@nati_sfv_asf) March 23, 2026
Selfishly from a Leeds perspective, we were wishing Okafor would wrapped in cotton wool for the next fortnight. We’ve got a trip to West Ham in the FA Cup after the break. You’d imagine that ought to be used to get him back to sharpness with an appearance again. Then, Manchester United looms in the Premier League. Okafor should be using the next two-to-three weeks to keep sharp and get back to a fitness level that allows him to start at Old Trafford.
If Okafor recaptures the form he showed prior to injury, Leeds have more than enough to comfortably stay up. And, we could bloody noses at Old Trafford next time out in the league.
The hope now is that he’s used sparingly by Switzerland in these friendlies. Yakin will want to see what Okafor can do to prove why he was brought in, but the last thing we need is another setback.
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