Gudmundsson’s injury, Rodon + Farke’s excitement at Stach

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Leeds United earned three points for the third time this season by securing a 2-1 win against struggling West Ham United on Friday.

Here are our Scout Notes from Elland Road.

GUDMUNDSSON’S INJURIES

Gabriel Gudmundsson (£4.0m) was sent off injured in the 44th minute of Friday’s match, suffering a back problem.

In the post-match interview, Daniel Farke simply said:

“Between the back and the legs, it was very painful.” – Daniel Farke about Gabriel Gudmundsson

Noah Okafor (£5.5 million), who provided the assistance Brenden AaronsonThe opening goal (£5.4m) after his header was saved, also had to be substituted in the first half.

Beren Cross of The Athletic provided further updates on Gudmundsson and Okafor after the game ended:

It doesn’t look like Okafor has suffered a re-injury. Farke wanted to take him out for around 50 or 55 minutes and the length of the first half meant it made sense to replace him then.

He hopes Gudmundsson is just bruised. #lufc

— Beren Cross (@BerenCross) October 24, 2025

RODON HAUL

Aaronson and Joe RodonAn early goal (£4.1m) proved sufficient at Elland Road.

Rodon, who was benched by 54% of the owners, scored 13 points even after conceding a late goal that kept him clean, having also claimed two defensive contribution (DefCon) points and a maximum bonus.

Both goals came from typical West Ham weaknesses – the first was a cross into the box, and the second from a corner taken by West Ham. Sean Longstaff (£4.9 million).

The Hammers have now conceded nine goals from corners in the Premier League this season, at least six more than any other team.

“The simple explanation is, we didn’t deal with the problem. We didn’t deal with things in our box, set pieces, we didn’t deal with second balls. We didn’t deal with a lot of things.”- Nuno Espirito Santo

Apart from Rodon, the Leeds players Jayden Bogle (£4.5 million), Jaka Bijol (£3.9 million) and Ethan Ampadu (£4.9m) also earned DefCon points:

Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£5.5m), meanwhile, underwent major changes; however, he only registered one shot on goal and has now missed four consecutive games.

FARKE AT DARLOW/STACH

Farke made four changes to the team that started their 2-0 defeat at Burnley last week, with Karl Darlow (4.0m), Pascal Struijk (£4.5 million), Anton Stach (£5.1 million) and Jack Harrison (£5.2m) sat on the bench.

Stach has experienced a recent dip in form but is playing through injury.

Explaining the changes before kick-off, Farke said:

“Performance-wise, changes are not really necessary. But we had a difficult week. Ethan Ampadu, Pascal Struijk and several players are struggling with some physical problems. Anton Stach too.” – Daniel Wake up

“First of all, I have to say that we all love Karl Darlow. He’s always been solid, reliable and never cracked under pressure, he’s done a solid job in the last few weeks when we needed him. But we’ve also made no secret that we signed Lucas Perri as our No. – Daniel Wake up

HELP BOWEN

The final score showed a close fight, but West Ham once again fell short, similar to their defeat against Brentford a few days earlier.

Their failure to defend crosses and corners was the main problem, but the overall performance was certainly influenced by Nuno Espirito Santo’s team selection.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£4.3 million) and El Hadji Malick Diouf (£4.4m) both recalled, but remain at left-back Ollie Scarlets (£4.4 million) is placed on the right.

The midfield pair of Touba (£5.7 million) and Andy Irving (£4.4m) also lacked composure or dynamism.

Scarles’ injury in the first half at least brought about a positive change, as Nuno switched to a back four formation, with a substitute Callum Wilson (£5.9m) provides an appropriate focal point at the top.

“It wasn’t working and we needed to make changes. We didn’t handle our defensive situation, and it felt like we needed a striker to hold up the ball, so maybe it wasn’t the best thing in my opinion. Mistakes like this are not acceptable in the Premier League.” – Nuno Espirito Santo

Which is impressive Matthew Fernandes (£5.5m) pulled one goal back for the visitors, expertly selected by the visitors Jarrod Bowen (£7.8m), but it was too little, too late.

Nuno is now winless in four Premier League games as West Ham manager so far.

As for Bowen, before providing the assist, he had given Soucek a goal, but the Czech Republic midfielder failed to reach the target. He was also unlucky not to score a goal through an acrobatic scissor kick in the first half.

Lucas Paqueta (£5.9m), meanwhile, had a goal disallowed for offside.

Up next for West Ham: back-to-back home games against Newcastle United and Burnley.

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