Leeds United travel to Manchester City this weekend with one player walking a real tightrope to avoid suspension.
Daniel Farke has it all to do in order to turn around a grim run of form at Leeds. His next fixtures don’t inspire much confidence for a return to winning ways after three successive losses.
Up next is a visit to Manchester City before back-to-back home clashes with Premier League giants Chelsea and Liverpool.
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Leeds United suspension warning for Ethan Ampadu ahead of Manchester City clash
A headache for these three games that could crop up for Farke pertains to his club captain Ethan Ampadu.
His booking against Aston Villa last time out was his fourth of the season with 12 games gone. That leaves him a single caution away from picking up an automatic one-match ban, and the issue is that he’s got until full-time in game 19 to avoid a fifth yellow card.
Ethan Ampadu is one booking away from a Premier League suspension for Leeds United. (Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers)
Leeds’ 19th game of the season is away to Liverpool on New Year’s Day, meaning Ampadu has to remain spotless for the next seven games to stay available.
As for the rest of Leeds’ squad, these players are closest to the threshold:
PlayerBookings so farEthan Ampadu4Jayden Bogle3Noah Okafor2Pascal Struijk2Willy Gnonto2
Leeds United injury latest: What fitness issues does Daniel Farke have this week?
Away from suspensions and on the topic of injury news, it looks as though Farke was boosted at the weekend by the fitness of two wingers.
Dan James and Willy Gnonto both featured after mass clamour for their involvement, albeit from the bench. Another week of full training after their sub appearances should see them pushing to start, especially given their transformative impact on Leeds’ approach play when they came on.
Elsewhere, a hefty tumble for Anton Stach when Leeds opened the scoring forced him off for Ao Tanaka, and he’s therefore an injury to keep tabs on as Farke previews Man City – should he still be in charge.
Leeds used a concussion substitution to replace Stach. And as he now follows protocol, there’s a chance he’s unavailable for the Etihad, should it be confirmed that he had suffered a concussion.
Read more: Joe Gelhardt discusses possibility of Leeds United recall this January.
