Brighton & Hove Albion v Leeds United - Premier League 2026/27
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 05: Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Melvin Bard of Leeds United inspects the pitch before the Premier League 2026/27 match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Leeds United at American Express Stadium on September 05, 2026 in Brighton, England. (Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images)
After tonight’s round of Nations League fixtures, all the focus will firmly be back on Leeds United.
There are three United players who will be involved in some capacity for their country tonight.
James Trafford will be prepared to come on in the event of any unexpected injury to Jordan Pickford. Dominic Calvert-Lewin will also hope he is able to get some minutes in England’s game against the Czech Republic at Wembley tonight. This comes after being an unused substitute in England’s last two games.
Jaka Bijol is also set to start for Slovenia in their final game of the international break against Scotland.
For the most part, all Leeds players who have been away representing their countries in this international break have remained injury-free. All except Jean-Matteo Bahoya. The France Football Federation has now issued a statement, as the winger was forced to withdraw from the U21 squad.
Severity of Bahoya’s ankle injury still unknown despite FFF statement
Bahoya was forced off in the first half during France U21s’ game against Luxembourg U21s over the weekend with an ankle injury. This was confirmed by France U21 coach Gerald Baticle.
Now, the France Football Federation have issued an official statement regarding Bahoya’s withdrawal.
“Having already qualified for the 2027 UEFA U21 Championship, Les Bleuets will be without Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Giovani Versini for their final qualifier against Switzerland this Tuesday in Orleans,” the statement began by saying.
“Jean-Matteo Bahoya (ankle injury) and Giovani Versini (leg injury) – both hurt during the match against Luxembourg – will not have recovered in time for the game against Switzerland this Tuesday (7:00 PM) at the Stade de la Source in Orleans. They have been forced to withdraw.”
Frustratingly, it does not clarify how serious the ankle injury is that Bahoya sustained.
The 21-year-old made his Leeds debut just before the international break with a brief cameo against Crystal Palace.
Bahoya scored whilst on international duty against Estonia. He managed to cut in from the right wing and score on his weaker left foot.
It looked as though he would be returning to West Yorkshire full of confidence and ready to contribute more frequently. This comes after Bahoya has been used sparingly so far by Daniel Farke since his deadline-day move.
Supporters will not have to wait long for an update on Jean-Matteo Bahoya’s injury
Our game against Arsenal is taking place on Saturday. So Farke is set to address the media on Thursday, where we will likely learn the full extent of Bahoya’s injury and how long he will be out for.
As well as this, we will likely get updates on Joe Rodon and Harry Wilson. The pair are currently recovering from their respective hamstring and quad injuries.
Hopefully Bahoya and Wilson aren’t out for too long, as that will leave us short on options out wide.
In our last few games, we have lined up in a 5-3-2 without a right winger.
Currently, it seems like Brenden Aaronson and Dan James are our only attacking reinforcements who can play in that role. These are pretty grim options should we switch systems in-game to accommodate another winger.
We know that if a player who is not one of Farke’s favourites gets injured, they can find it hard to break back into the team. Largie Ramazani is the best example of this.
Hopefully this isn’t the case for Bahoya. The youngster looked like he was just breaking through and getting the opportunity to prove why the 49ers are willing to commit £25.7million to secure his services permanently.