Leeds United opened their preseason with a 3-2 loss to Wrexham in Florida on Monday night. That scoreline matters less than the list of guys who didn’t even dress.
Five first-team players sat out, including Dominic Calvert-Lewin. According to a post on X from the club, Calvert-Lewin had a minor setback and is training on his own. Jaka Bijol has a knock to the knee. Sebastiaan Bornauw dealt with a small issue, so they held him out. Ilia Gruev is still working back from knee surgery. And the club said Tanaka and Gabriel Gudmundsson came back late from the World Cup. Noah Okafor didn’t travel to the U.S. at all after his World Cup run.
None of it sounds serious. More like early summer caution than real injury trouble. Which is basically what you expect when a team plays its first friendly across the ocean.
Daniel Farke went with a starting lineup that raised some eyebrows. He gave first-team action to Callum Mills, Jayden Lienou and Alfie Cresswell, all younger guys who aren’t exactly household names. Wrexham, meanwhile, was playing its third preseason game. The difference in sharpness showed.
Some highlights from a messy night
Sean Longstaff was probably the best player on the field for Leeds. He scored and set up a goal. Joel Piroe missed a penalty, then made up for it with a tidy finish at the near post. Not many teams have scored twice on Wrexham this summer — they held Manchester United scoreless a few days ago — so there’s something there. Jayden Bogle nearly made it four with a late chance that didn’t drop.
Lucas Perri played in the second half, which is notable because he’s reportedly close to a move to Torino. Harry Wilson also got some run and looked good. Piroe scored, but overall his performance didn’t exactly scream “keep me.”
Up next for Leeds is Sunderland in New Jersey early Friday morning. That one carries a little extra heat since these two were promotion rivals last season. Then it’s Liverpool in Illinois, Man United in Ireland, RB Leipzig at Elland Road, and finally the season opener against Nottingham Forest.
So yeah, five guys missing the first preseason game isn’t great. But it’s also not panic time. If half of them aren’t back by the Liverpool game, that’s a different conversation.
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