Illness strikes Leeds United camp as Daniel Farke left sweating on fitness of others — Leeds Live 22/10/25

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Leeds United team news and injury update ahead of West Ham clash

James Smailes

Leeds United are sweating on the fitness of a host of key players ahead of a crunch game against West Ham United.

Leeds host the Hammers at Elland Road on Friday night as they go in search of a first win in four attempts after successive defeats and a draw in their last three outings. West Ham are also in need of a win to lift their position in the standings and morale after another loss on Monday night at home to Brentford.

Both sides have their injury worries ahead of the game, with Leeds' complicated further by an illness that has hit a couple of members of the camp.

Missing key men in attack, the availability of Noah Okafor and Willy Gnonto still remains in doubt after a number of weeks, while captain Ethan Ampadu and defender Pascal Struijk missed training today due to sickness.

Ampadu and Struijk can play if they recover in time, but there are bigger questions in the attacking positions regarding Okafor and Gnonto.

"We have to take some late decisions. There are a few problems in the offence in terms of availability," explained Leeds boss Daniel Farke.

"Noah Okafor and Willy Gnonto are making some good progress in their rehab but they were not able to complete whole team training in the week so far. We will have to make some late decisions.

"For Noah, he was not out for as long as Willy, for him it is perhaps a bit more realistic to be involved, but we will see.

"A few players suffering a few illnesses at the moment. Ampadu and Struijk miss team training today and there are question marks about their availability. So there are some late calls to make."

 

One good bit of news is Leeds have welcomed Harry Gray back into full training this week as the teenager celebrates his first professional contract.

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