Harry Wilson has only started two of Leeds United's seven games so far
Harry Wilson dd not play for Wales(Image: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
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Leeds United resume their Premier League campaign (remember that?) against Arsenal this weekend.
The Whites travel to the Emirates Stadium to take on the reigning champions on Saturday lunchtime having made a positive start to their season.
Unbeaten after five matches they sit just three points and three places behind the second-placed Gunners and go to the capital justifiably optimistic they should do better there than they did last term. Indeed Mikel Arteta’s team have been kryptonite for United in recent years.
A fresh variable will be the toll taken on both teams’ squads by the three week international break, one that has both offered the chance for injured players to regain fitness and the risk of fit players getting injured.
As things stand Leeds have two players ruled out of the game, Mateo Joseph who is recovering from knee ligament damage sustained on loan – and Joe Rodon who is around half-way through the estimated recovery time on his hamstring.
Harry Wilson has not played for Wales after missing the Crystal Palace game with a thigh issue and fresh doubts emerged over the international break with compatriot Dan James having missed the loss to Denmark on Sunday, after scoring against Norway three days earlier.
Jean-Matteo Bahoya was forced off after 35 minutes in France Under-21s’ win over Luxembourg on Saturday. Head coach Gerald Baticle said: “I cannot tell you exactly what the injury is, there will be further tests, but it is his ankle.”
On a positive note Ilia Gruev played for the first time this season with Bulgaria and Jaka Bijol featured for Slovenia having been out for a month.
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As for Arsenal, defenders Cristhian Mosquera and Ben White have been seen training so they should be available at the weekend. Arteta will hope Declan Rice’s withdrawal from the England squad will have given him time to return to fitness.
As things stand William Saliba is the hosts’ only guaranteed absentee having not played since the World Cup.
But the international matches cast doubt over Ezri Konsa, Jurrien Timber, Kai Havertz, Max Dowman and Christos Tzolis .
Centre back Konsa suffered a dead leg in the 7-0 win over Croatia last weekend withdraw from the Three Lions squad.
Timber has had a disrupted season so far but returned in time to feature in the Gunners’ previous two matches and then go away with The Netherlands. The right back missed the first game, played the next two and then sat on the bench against Serbia, saying afterwards: “I have to be very smart about the steps we take. Otherwise, I’ll suffer a setback, and I don’t want that.”
As for the luckless Havertz, he’d made six starts for Arsenal before going away with Germany and suffering a hamstring problem. He flew back to Arsenal and the exent of the knock is not yet known, while winger Tzolis also sustained a hamstring injury the 2-2 draw against the Netherlands. The Standard reports he will miss three weeks.
Finally 16-year-old Max Dowman withdrew from England U19 duty with what is being reported as a ‘contact injury’.