Leeds down to NINE senior first team players ahead of Arsenal clash, with Gunners man Sambi Lokonga out with COVID-19 – but Saturday’s only Premier League fixture expected to go ahead

Leeds' clash against Arsenal today is expected to go ahead despite the Whites being down to just nine senior first team players.

A string of COVID-induced cancellations has left the Whites’ Premier League tie as Saturday’s only top-flight match, with all five other matches postponed due to the pandemic.

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Leeds themselves have been experiencing a crisis of their own when it comes to absentees, but only on the injury front, with a flood of players in the treatment room.

Marcelo Bielsa now only has just nine senior first team players to choose from following a shoulder dislocation for Charlie Cresswell in training.

The young defender joins the likes of Patrick Bamford and Kalvin Phillips on the sidelines, with Bielsa down to the bare bones.

The 5.30pm clash is currently set to go ahead live on talkSPORT with Leeds possessing the required number of outfield players and goalkeepers to satisfy the fixture.

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Arsenal's squad has also been affected by the recent COVID-19 outbreak, with midfielder and summer signing Sambi Lokonga out of the match against Leeds after returning a positive test.

But that hasn't impacted on Mikel Arteta's starting XI, with the manager fielding the same starting line-up in the Premier League for the fourth game running.

It's the first time that's happened at the north London club since 2015.

That's a record rival boss Bielsa would be only too glad to boast about, with the Leeds manager being forced to make four changes to his team against the Gunners.

That doesn't sound too severe on paper, until you look at the Whites' bench, which has an average age of approximately 18 years and eight months.

As well as Cresswell's late injury, Diego Llorente is also missing for the Yorkshire club, with Dan James and Jamie Shackleton out, and Junior Firpo suspended.

Leeds were already without injured quintet Phillips, Bamford, Liam Cooper, Rodrigo and Pascal Struijk for Tuesday night's clash at Man City -  the club's heaviest ever Premier League defeat as they were beaten 7-0.

Shackleton was forced off during that game with an Achilles problem and James then suffered a groin injury in training.