Farke decision will come back to bite him if Leeds ace misses Swansea clash
Daniel Farke could have cut off his own nose to spite his face if he is without a potentially key Leeds United player this weekend.
The Whites boss is fixated on securing Premier League football back at Elland Road at the second attempt but a mini-slump of one win in three has been ruthless enough to see their lead from the play-off places cut to just two points.
Swansea City are visitors to West Yorkshire this Saturday (29 March) following an international break which did not see Farke’s absent stars from Thorp Arch return totally unscathed.
Farke decision could cost Leeds on Saturday
Farke has been rocked by the news that Wilfried Gnonto could miss the Swansea contest with an ankle injury sustained while representing the Italy Under-21s earlier this week.
The manager has claimed a “late decision” will be made on Gnonto, who many Leeds fans wanted to see restored to the starting XI this Saturday.
As posted by Beren Cross on X (27 March), Farke also added that it is “harder to put a player in after a few weeks without starting”, having not selected Gnonto to start a Championship match so far in 2025.
Gnonto had been deployed occasionally in a more central attacking role towards the start of the season, but has since been heavily snubbed in favour of Brenden Aaronson, whose form has severely dipped to the point his half-time substitution against QPR for Gnonto was cheered by the travelling Leeds fans.
Hindsight, wonderful, of course. However, had Farke dropped Aaronson when it became clear the American was not producing to his previous standards, the likelihood of Gnonto’s match sharpness tilting him the way of being available on Saturday for his first start since December would have been a lot higher.
As a result, it is predictable that Farke will start Aaronson and rather not risk Gnonto. It could be the last-chance saloon for the former, especially if the young Italian comes on and makes an important impact.
Elland Road expects this weekend
As we move towards the run-in, the perfect fixture on paper for a promotion-chasing side is a lower-mid-table opponent at home.
Swansea City will not be getting relegated barring a catastrophe. Their six-point gap to the drop zone with eight games to go may seem alarming to those in South Wales, but the sheer number of sides battling below the 16th-placed outfit will likely cushion any poor form.
| POS | Championship table 2024-25 | PLD | PTS | GD |
| 1 | LEEDS UNITED | 38 | 80 | +51 |
| 2 | Sheffield United | 38 | 80 | +25 |
| 3 | Burnley | 38 | 78 | +41 |
Joel Piroe, Dan James and Joe Rodon are all players who know the Swans exceptionally well given their previous career paths, and they will be looking to put their former side to the sword.
This is the ideal opportunity to kickstart a run of momentum at a key period, and Farke knows it.