Injury problems continue to mount for Leeds United’s forthcoming opponents Crystal Palace, with another senior player now expected to miss Saturday’s meeting at Elland Road.
Attacking midfielder Daichi Kamada was forced off during the second half of Palace’s 3-0 home loss to Manchester City on Sunday. The Japan international required treatment on the pitch before hobbling off in the 67th minute, making way for Will Hughes, and he will not be involved against Leeds this weekend.
The Eagles have already been hit by the loss of attacking full-back Daniel Munoz, who has undergone knee surgery, while winger Ismaila Sarr returned from an ankle issue on Sunday but is set to depart for AFCON this week. Leading scorer Jean-Philippe Mateta is also having his workload closely monitored.
“It looks like his hamstring,” Glasner said of Kamada following Sunday’s defeat.
“When he landed, he over-stretched his knee, and that means the hamstring got the full stretch because he never had any muscle injury before. It was just an incident and he can hardly walk.
“It looks pretty bad. But he will have a scan tomorrow, then we will know more. I think we will lose him for a couple of weeks, but it’s a chance for other players to step up.”
Glasner is increasingly short of options to rotate, having found it difficult to bolster his squad during the summer window. Palace’s progress in domestic cup competitions and the Europa Conference League has also resulted in a congested schedule, with matches coming thick and fast at an almost unmanageable pace.
Oliver Glasner on Crystal Palace fixture chaos ahead of Leeds United:
Saturday’s trip to Leeds will represent Palace’s fourth fixture in just 10 days and comes only 48 hours after hosting Finnish side KuPS in the Conference League on Thursday.
Glasner has already acknowledged that no player will start both games this week, with a heavyweight Carabao Cup clash against Arsenal also looming before Christmas.
“There are many positives. Today [against City] for me it’s just the result that’s disappointing, everything else I could really live very well with,” the Palace boss added.
“But now it’s preparing for KuPs [on Thursday] and then of course it’s a little bit tricky [with Leeds on Saturday].
“Honestly, I am now 51 and I’ve never had two games within 48 hours! So we have to deal with it and we will find the best solution. And then we’ll go to Arsenal, playing on the 23rd [December], and we’ll try to win and qualify for the semi-finals in the EFL Cup.”
Leeds will also be monitoring the fitness of striker Lukas Nmecha this week after he missed the last two matches with a hamstring problem sustained against Chelsea. Daniel Farke stopped short of ruling him out for Sunday’s draw at Brentford, suggesting the injury may not be severe.
Meanwhile, longer-term absentees Sean Longstaff and Daniel James remain sidelined with hamstring tendon and calf issues respectively. No fresh concerns emerged from the Gtech Community Stadium, leaving Leeds with a full week to rest and recover ahead of Palace’s visit to Elland Road.