Leeds United may only be three days away from a crucial Championship encounter with Sheffield United, but plenty of Daniel Farke’s squad remain on international duty.
The Whites are set to make their return to league action at Elland Road on Friday night but will have virtually no time at Thorp Arch with the full squad.
Considering Leeds are coming up against the only remaining unbeaten side in the EFL, who have conceded just three goals all season, Farke will be less than impressed with the scheduling of the match.
The Leeds boss will be keeping everything crossed all of his players return this week without any injury concerns, to add to an already long list.
With that in mind, here is every first team Leeds player in international action today.
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Ao Tanaka – Japan
Tanaka kicks things off today with a match for Japan against Australia, where he is likely to come up against Sheffield United defender Harry Souttar for the first of two meetings this week.
Leeds can ill afford for Tanaka to pick up any kind of injury for his country as he is one of just two fit senior midfielders at Elland Road, alongside Joe Rothwell.
Tanaka was an unused sub against Saudi Arabia last week but could come into the side today in place of Liverpool’s Wataru Endo, with kick-off 11.35am BST.
Mateo Joseph – Spain U21s
Joseph was handed his first ever start for Spain U21s last Thursday and marked it with an impressive first half hattrick against Kazakhstan.
Spain have already qualified for next summer’s European Championships and are coming up against bottom of the group Malta, so it will be interesting to see if Joseph starts again.
The match is set to get underway at 4pm BST, meaning Joseph does have a decent amount of time to get himself back to England from Spain ahead of Friday.
Charlie Crew – Wales U21s
Though Crew may not yet have been handed a single minute of first team football at Leeds, he is more than knocking on the door.
With Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev out, Crew is currently Leeds’ only backup in midfield and so despite Farke’s reluctance, he will be desperate for him to stay fit.
Having been an unused sub in Wales’ 2-1 defeat to Czech Republic on Friday, Crew faces an away trip to Slovakia at 5pm BST today.
Wilfried Gnonto – Italy U21s
This is Italy U21s’ one and only game of the break meaning Gnonto has had a decent little rest since Leeds’ last match at Sunderland.
However, Italy’s qualification for the Euros is not quite secured and so Gnonto will almost certainly start this one against Ireland U21s.
Italy need only a point to go through with the game kicking off at 5.30pm BST, meaning like Joseph, he should be back in good time.
Junior Firpo – Dominican Republic
As the best player and poster boy of international football with the Dominican Republic, Firpo almost certainly will play another 90 today.
Firpo scored twice in a 5-0 win away at Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday and he will be coming up against the same opponents this evening at home.
The game is set to get underway at 6.30pm BST, which at least does mean he will fly home in good time tomorrow, as opposed to previous matches he has played which haven’t started until the early hours of the morning.
Brenden Aaronson – USA
It would not be a surprise if Farke addresses this in his press conference ahead of Sheffield United, but Aaronson‘s second match with USA is far from ideal.
Aaronson played 78 minutes in a 2-0 win over Panama at the weekend and is now set for another friendly away in Mexico.
However, due to the time difference, the game is not scheduled to start until 3.30am BST tomorrow, giving him virtually no time to get home and recovery.
Considering Leeds play Friday, it is very difficult to see Aaronson starting. However, what other options does Farke have in the number 10 spot?
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