Daniel Farke will be desperate to welcome back his international Leeds United stars without injury.
Leeds United midfielder Anton Stach will return from international duty well-rested after watching Germany beat Ghana from the bench on Monday night.
Stach was rewarded for a brilliant debut campaign at Leeds with a first Germany call-up in four years this month. The 27-year-old joined up with his national teammates and head coach Julian Nagelsmann for two World Cup warm-up friendlies against Switzerland and Ghana.
Competition is fierce in central midfield, however, and Stach’s involvement against Switzerland was limited to a 10-minute cameo off the bench. A thrilling game was locked at 3-3 when the Leeds man was introduced and Germany went on to win 4-3, with club-level teammate Noah Okafor an unused substitute for the opponent.
On Monday night, Stach was once again named on the substitute’s bench for a meeting with Ghana in Stuttgart. But this time, the £17million Leeds summer signing was given a full watching brief as goals from Kai Havertz and Deniz Undav secured a 2-1 victory for his nation.
With relaxed rules in place for the friendly, Nagelsmann made eight substitutions in total but opted against introducing Stach. And while the player will likely be disappointed not to get another chance, his rest will be of benefit to Leeds.
Stach has been virtually ever-present in central midfield for Daniel Farke’s side, missing only a handful of Premier League games through injury. Prior to the international break, he’d started and played the full 90 minutes in four physically gruelling matches against Manchester City, Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Brentford.
The dynamic midfielder will now return to West Yorkshire with just 10 minutes of football in his legs during the break. Leeds travel to West Ham for an FA Cup quarter-final on Sunday before another full week ahead of their Premier League return at Manchester United on Monday, April 13.
Anton Stach recharged for Leeds United run-in
It remains to be seen how strong a side Farke will put out at the London Stadium this weekend, with the Leeds boss having to balance a potential trip to Wembley with the obvious priority of Premier League survival. Victory at West Ham would only help build momentum but those playing could risk injury.
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Regardless, Farke will be relieved to see another international star return not only unscathed, but recharged. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has also not featured this week having been sent back by England following his substitute appearance against Uruguay.
Noah Okafor’s Switzerland, Ao Tanaka’s Japan and Jaka Bijol’s Slovenia are in friendly action this evening. Gabriel Gudmundsson is expected to feature for Sweden in their World Cup play-off final meeting with Poland.
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