Leeds United ace faces brutal 62-hour test ahead of Championship promotion contenders clash

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After the bitter disappointment of seeing two points dropped at Sunderland last time out, Leeds United will be eager to back to action when they host Sheffield United on Friday night.

A Yorkshire derby against Chris Wilder’s promotion hopefuls under the Elland Road floodlights offers Leeds the perfect opportunity to move on from the 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light.

Leeds saw a total of 11 players jet out on international duty and as boss Daniel Farke crosses his fingers that all of his players return fully fit, the German will be acutely aware of his side’s issues in the centre of midfield.

With skipper Ethan Ampadu and Bulgarian Ilia Gurev both sidelined, Farke’s squad is feeling the strain in that area and he will be hoping these issues are not compounded by the long travel times that Brendan Aaronson and Ao Tanaka will face in the coming days.

Brendan Aaronson’s 62-hour turnaround

The Leeds star is a part of Mauricio Pochettino’s first USMNT squad and Aaronson played 78 minutes in the 2-0 friendly win over Panama. Next up for the US is a trip to Guadalajara to face Mexico in a clash that will not finish until almost 6am on Wednesday morning, UK time.

That leaves 62 hours between the final whistle sounding in Mexico and the kick-off of what will likely be a blood-and-thunder local derby against the Blades. Pochettino has let trio Christian Pulisic, Ricardo Pepi, and Weston McKennie all return to their clubs early after the first game, but Aaronson will remain and be given minimal time to rest up before he is called into action again.

Tanaka is more like-for-like replacement in the middle for Ampadu and Gruev and thankfully his turnaround time won’t be quite as bad, as Japan’s World Cup qualifier against Australia will be finished by Tuesday lunchtime, UK time.

Junior Firpo also faces a long journey, with his Dominican Republic side taking on Antigua and Barbuda at 6.30pm UK time on Tuesday evening.

READ MORE: Daniel Farke will be relieved after what happened to Ao Tanaka on international duty with Japan

Fixture list will test Leeds United’s squad further

While the EFL have looked to lock-in kick-off times earlier this season to avoid any late changes, Leeds will no doubt be ruing the schedule makers this week, as a Friday night local derby against a fellow promotion contender is about as rough as it gets for a squad that has seen players scattered across four continents this week.

The games will come thick and fast too, as Watford visit Elland Road on Tuesday night before a long trip to Bristol City next weekend during a run of six fixtures in just 22 days before the November international break.

Leeds have spent the international break sitting fifth in the table, three points behind the Blades, who second behind leaders Sunderland on goal difference.