Arrivals back into West Yorkshire will continue throughout today as Leeds United’s squad reconvene to begin the run-in to Manchester City’s Elland Road visit. More than two weeks have passed since the 4-3 Tottenham Hotspur loss and after some time to recover, the players are expected back at Thorp Arch from tomorrow.
Head coach Jesse Marsch previously confirmed the first week after the Spurs loss would be full rest for the players before individual programmes were sent out for the week beginning November 21. The squad were instructed to follow those plans from wherever they wish, but testing is expected in Leeds with 31 days to run until that City clash.
“They will all have a week off,” said Marsch. “Then we give them a physical programme for another week to do on their own.
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“So, they will have two weeks off, but the first week they do absolutely nothing. Then we come back on the 28th here and we do testing.
“We have a good plan and we have some good opponents and then we'll have most of our team together which is a positive.”
Real Sociedad remains the only confirmed friendly for the Whites. Diego Llorente’s former club will visit Elland Road in a 7.45pm kick-off on December 16, 12 days before Pep Guardiola’s side arrive.
More matches are expected in order to get the team up to speed, but details are yet to be released. A training camp is also in the offing once the squad has returned initially to West Yorkshire.
As Marsch has said, Leeds will benefit from having only three players at the World Cup in Qatar. Rasmus Kristensen’s final group game takes place on Wednesday in what is effectively a qualification shootout with Australia.
Meanwhile, Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson play their final group match against Iran on Tuesday. That too looks like a knockout match for qualification to the second round.
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