Leeds’ Gudmundsson Aims for Revenge Against Sunderland

Gabriel Gudmundsson doesn’t sound like a player easing his way back. He sounds like a player ready to drive Leeds into a new tier of expectation.

Seven games in, one defeat, seventh in the Premier League. Daniel Farke’s side have carried last season’s momentum into the new campaign, and the 27-year-old left-back believes the mood inside the camp matches the numbers on the table.

“We feel good, are confident at the moment, and are physically strong,” he told BBC Radio Leeds. No hesitation. No caveats.

Back from the hamstring – and back to himself

Gudmundsson’s season started on the treatment table, a hamstring injury ruling him out of the first two matches. For a full-back whose game depends on power and timing, that sort of interruption can linger in the mind as much as in the muscle.

He’s not playing like it.

“I’m feeling good,” he said. “I got some games in the international break as well which was important for me. I’m happy to be back, and now I’ve been playing for some time already which feels good.”

Those minutes with his national side sharpened him up, but the real satisfaction comes from slotting back into a Leeds team that has picked up where it left off.

“Not just me, the team has been doing some good performances really so it is just building on that.”

The word “building” keeps coming back with Gudmundsson. Not as a cliché, but as a clear theme of how this Leeds side sees its own development.

Higher expectations, heavier demands

Survival and 14th place last season felt like a success. Now, that’s just the starting point.

“Expectations from last season going into this season were higher,” he admitted. “People outside are now expecting us to get points from every game. We know it is very tough in this league but we feel good… It’s keeping building on what we did last season.”

That shift is crucial. Leeds are no longer the plucky survivors. They’re being judged as a side that should trouble anyone, anywhere.

The summer helped. “We had some good lads come in over the summer to help us and it is about building step-by-step. We are in a good path.”

Recent results underline that change in mindset. Leeds have gone toe-to-toe with top sides and walked away disappointed not to win, not relieved to escape.

“We had two tough games lately, but also that we feel a little bit disappointed to not win against these top teams shows the ambition we have.”

This is a dressing room that now measures itself against the league’s best, not just the bottom six.

Sunderland away: scars, standards and a score to settle

Next up is Sunderland away on Sunday, a fixture that still grates inside Thorp Arch.

Last season, Leeds watched their fellow promoted club surge to seventh and into Europe, while their own head-to-head record against the Black Cats told a harsher story: a 1-1 draw away, a 1-0 defeat at Elland Road. Sunderland outshone them when it mattered.

Now Sunderland sit bottom. Leeds arrive in form. On paper, the roles have flipped. On the pitch, Gudmundsson knows nothing comes that easy.

“Sunderland away is always difficult and we know that we have to be strong,” he said. Respect, but not fear.

Then comes the edge. “It’s going to be a challenge, but also we definitely want to have revenge from last time we were there.

“We were the better team and should have won that game, so you really want to go there and get something out of it this weekend.”

That sense of injustice from last season still fuels them. Leeds believe they controlled that match and left empty-handed. The trip north now offers a chance to correct the record and reinforce a new identity: a Leeds side that finishes the job.

The stakes run beyond a single afternoon. Gudmundsson knows what a result at Sunderland could do for the next stretch of fixtures.

“That will be massive for us going into Bournemouth the weekend after which is another really tough away game.”

Two hostile grounds, back-to-back. A squad feeling “confident” and “physically strong.” A team no longer satisfied with plucky performances and narrow defeats.

Leeds wanted to stay in the league last season. This time, they want to shape it.