Leeds United take on Brentford this weekend hoping for a far better result than they managed in the away meeting between the two sides back in February.
The Whites are without a win in five games in the Premier League after losing to Aston Villa last time out, as Patrick Bamford’s goal proved to be a mere consolation on the night.
Up next in the league is a home clash against a Brentford side going from strength to strength in their second top-flight campaign, something Leeds failed to manage last term.
A 5-2 defeat was the result for Jesse Marsch’s men last time they faced the Bees, with defensive catastrophe and refereeing controversy seeing Marsch sent off during the second half.
As Leeds look to avoid a similar drubbing, we take a look at two threats that Leeds simply have to get on top of this weekend…
Counter-attacks from corners
Brentford’s key threat against virtually anyone in the Premier League is their ruthlessness in transition, breaking at incredible speed and taking their chances in the final third.
Leeds, meanwhile, have been quite shocking at defending against counter-attacks, and as much as individual errors never help, it’s down to the system.
In the first 90 seconds against Villa, Leeds had a corner and flooded men forward, only for a poor delivery to be cleared and set the home side up to counter attack.
Because of the lack of defensive cover after the initial press is broken, Leeds’ defenders have been hopelessly outnumbered, and good teams punish that.
Brentford are the perfect side for capitalising on that sort of error in shape, and Leeds need to be far wiser in attacking set-plays.
Do Leeds still need a left-back in January?
Yes
No
Bryan Mbeumo running channels
Similarly, with Leeds’ high-press focusing on the ball and through the centre of the pitch, the moment it’s broken down, it leaves wide areas exposed.
Pascal Struijk has done admirably as a left-back, but again, he is not natural to the position, and the better and more confident 1-v-1 wingers can exploit him.
Bryan Mbeumo is one of those players, and his intelligent runs behind the space between our centre-back and left-back is a real concern.
Our defenders struggle when facing their own goal, and a key strength of the Cameroon international is getting into those spaces out wide, either leading to him threatening the goal, or stretching the defence enough to allow Ivan Toney in.