Leeds and Southampton sweating over key men ahead of Saturday

Leeds United are sweating over the availability of key players ahead of their Premier League clash with Southampton on Saturday.

Kalvin Phillips, Raphinha and Luke Ayling are all potential doubts for the trip to St Mary’s after injuries and international travel caused complications to Marcelo Bielsa’s plans.

Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse replaced Phillips in the England squad for the current international break and has potentially played his way back into Gareth Southgate’s plans heading towards the 2022 World Cup.

Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl also has his own injury concerns with Che Adams picking up a knock whilst playing for Scotland and Stuart Armstrong having not played for a while. James Ward-Prowse is also banned for three games after being sent off in the 3-1 loss at Chelsea.

Southampton boss Hasenhuttl has some thinking to do

Ralph Hasenhuttl will be trying to create a plan for his Southampton side to exploit potential weak areas of the Leeds defence but he also has thinking to do in terms of his own selection ahead of Saturday.

A replacement for Che Adams could be needed and Armando Broja could be the ideal player to fill in give his exploits for Albania on international duty. Travelling time will also play a part for the 20-year-old though.

Southampton fans will also be keen to see Stuart Armstrong back on the pitch after witnessing a lack of creativity in their team since the start of this season but it remains unclear whether he will be able to start this coming weekend.

He was on the bench for Scotland in their dramatic 3-2 win over Israel last Saturday and will be preparing for their fixture with the Faroe Islands this evening.

Other international players that Saints will hope arrive back without any fresh injury concerns are Mohamed Elyounoussi, Tino Livramento, Moussa Djenepo and Jan Bednarek.