Daniel Farke with the Leeds United team news for Saturday’s first game of the new Premier League season at Nottingham Forest.
Whites boss Daniel Farke has provided his Leeds United team news for Saturday’s first game of the new Premier League season at Nottingham Forest for which a pair have been ruled out.
Clear first choice left back Gabi Gudmundsson suffered a muscular injury in the pre-season friendly victory against Liverpool in America, Farke revealing the following week that Gudmundsson was probably looking at four weeks out.
Farke said the Swede was consequently a doubt for United’s first two games of the new Premier League season, ahead of which Leeds took in their final friendly on Saturday at home to FC Augsburg.
Gudmundsson remained sidelined for the fixture and winger Willy Gnonto also missed the contest having suffered a hamstring injury in the midweek draw against Manchester United in Dublin.
Leeds were keen not to put a timescale on when Gnonto’s return but it was hoped the Italian would be back as soon as possible.
United will begin their second season back in the Premier League with Saturday afternoon’s clash at Forest, ahead of which Farke held his first pre-match press conference of the new campaign on Thursday afternoon.
Farke said: “Willy Gnonto will definitely miss this game with his hamstring injury and also Gabi Gudmundsson, all the others are available as it stands”
Ilia Gruev and Lucas Perri were United’s other two injury absentees against Augsburg, Bulgarian international midfielder Gruev yet to feature since suffering a meniscus knee injury in April.
Gruev was expected to be back for pre-season and the Bulgarian was named in the travelling squad for the pre-season tour of America but the 26-year-old had yet to play a single minute so far this summer.
Perri meanwhile is set to leave Leeds to join Serie A side Torino, the move delayed by a minor injury.
Noah Okafor, meanwhile, only bagged his first minutes of the summer in last week’s game against Manchester United in Dublin having been given an extended break due to Switzerland’s progression to the World Cup quarter-finals.
Okafor then bagged his second dose of minutes of the summer as a second-half substitute in Saturday’s win against Augsburg.