Credit: Breaking Media

Richie Mills

Fri 1 May 2026 10:40, UK

Leeds United entertain Burnley at Elland Road on Friday night, where they will be without at least two players due to injury.

After a last-gasp draw with Bournemouth, hopes were high among Leeds fans that they would reach their first FA Cup final since 1973, only for Chelsea to beat them 1-0 at Wembley on Sunday.

In addition to important wins for Nottingham Forest, West Ham, and Tottenham, Leeds now have to focus on staying out of reach of the Premier League relegation battle for the visit of Burnley.

Daniel Farke‘s side could go 13th in the table if results go their way over the coming days but the Leeds boss will solely be focusing on getting three points against managerless Burnley.

Ahead of this fixture, both Leeds and Burnley have some injury issues that MOT Leeds News has drawn attention to.

Ilia Gruev and Gabriel Gudmundsson out for Leeds

Before the Chelsea game, Farke revealed that Ilia Gruev had been ruled out for the season with a meniscus injury.

Then, in the dying embers of the Blues defeat, Gabriel Gudmundsson suffered a hamstring injury that will sideline him for a few weeks. And Leeds have some other doubts for the Burnley match.

Indeed, Noah Okafor and Jaka Bijol could be unavailable for this crunch fixture, which will force Farke to reshuffle his pack.

He said on Wednesday: “Hamstring injury [for Gudmundsson]. It’s also a bit of a serious injury, he will definitely miss the game on Friday and also, as it stands, the Tottenham game and then we have to see.

“Of course we try to bring him back as quick as possible, especially at this stage of the season, and I hope he can feature then in one of the last two games. But as it stands, the next two games we will have to play without him.

“Noah Okafor got a hit against his calf, there’s a question mark behind his availability. Also Jaka Bijol was dealing with some problems with hip flexors, so I hope to have them both available but I can’t tell you now if it’s possible.”

For Burnley, Josh Cullen and former Leeds loanee Connor Roberts are out with respective ACL and Achilles tendon injuries – so four confirmed absentees across the two teams.

Hannibal Mejbri, Axel Tuanzebe and Zeki Amdouni may be touch and go for Burnley.

Scott Parker sacking may be bad news for Leeds

Farke may have privately been relieved over the news of Scott Parker’s departure from Burnley on Thursday.

The 45-year-old has won two of his three games against Farke while in charge at Burnley, including a draw at Turf Moor last season.

Michael Jackson will take his place in the Clarets dugout and while he has less pedigree than Parker, Leeds should be wary of Burnley.

Indeed, during his last interim stint at Burnley, he picked up 10 points from a possible 12 as the Clarets just missed out on staying in the Premier League in 2022.

Leeds should win but Burnley won’t make it easy for them.