The Leeds United team news before Sunday’s Elland Road opener against Brentford is about as good as Daniel Farke could have hoped for, with the Whites boss reporting a double injury boost at his final pre-match press conference of the summer.
Leeds United team news: Gudmundsson and Gnonto edge closer
Gabriel Gudmundsson and Wilfried Gnonto are the two players involved. The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that Farke delivered positive news on both at Friday afternoon’s briefing, while also confirming that a midfielder will sit this one out.
Neither man has played a minute this season. Gudmundsson, the Swedish left-back, has been out since picking up a muscle injury in pre-season, and Gnonto has been nursing a hamstring problem sustained against Manchester United in Dublin. Farke had already suggested earlier in the week that both could rejoin team training, so Friday’s update is the natural next step rather than a bolt from the blue.
The midfielder missing out will surprise nobody. Ilia Gruev has been sidelined since April with a knee injury and had been flagged beforehand as a likely absentee. Even so, Farke is hardly short in the middle, with Ethan Ampadu, Sean Longstaff, Anton Stach and Ao Tanaka all fit.
Leeds go into their first home league game of 2026/27 with a perfect record, having beaten Nottingham Forest 1-0 in the Premier League on 22 August and then 2-0 at the City Ground in the EFL Cup three nights later, without conceding in either. Brentford have also won both of their opening fixtures, so this is no gentle welcome back to Elland Road.
Our predicted Leeds United XI to face Brentford sets out how Farke is expected to line up, with any returning pair more likely to feature from the bench than from the first whistle.
