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2 Leeds United changes Jesse Marsch must consider against Brentford

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Leeds United face Brentford this weekend looking to end their Premier League campaign having secured their safety from relegation.

Having secured a point against Brighton, Leeds have given themselves a real chance of staving off relegation back to the Championship.

In their final game, they face a trip to Brentford, hopeful that they can do enough to keep themselves out of trouble.

They will be buoyed by a much better showing against the Seagulls, growing into the game after early dominance from Graham Potter’s side.

Here, we look at two changes that we think Jesse Marsch will be considered against the Bees…

Jamie Shackleton to start

The first change we think ought to be looked at is to bring in Jamie Shackleton from the start of the game, rather than leaving him as a later substitution.

Shackleton had been out for some time, and made his first appearance under Marsch against Brighton last time out and looked a solid outlet.

Facing Brentford, Marsch will know that he needs to match their energy in wide areas, especially after seeing how left-wing-back Rico Henry performed against Everton.

Shackleton brings similar energy and pace to the table as Henry, and he will be better placed to do a job there over someone like Robin Koch who is covering from centre-back.

Should Gelhardt be guaranteed to start now?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Robin Koch over Diego Llorente

Koch has suffered at Leeds thanks to his versatility and all-round ability to play in more than one position.

He’s not really been able to nail down a starting berth at centre-back because he’s been needed to play in midfield as well as slotting in at wing-back in the last two games.

However, even while nursing a back problem for most of the game against Brighton, he was the best centre-back in our side, sweeping up for those blundering around him.

Brentford are going to look to get in behind us with long balls, utilising Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbuemo’s pace, ad of we don’t get to grips with the space in behind, we’re in trouble.

Out of our current centre-backs, Koch is the best equipped to play alongside Cooper and deal with that threat, rather than Llorente.

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Leeds United season ticket holder since 2013/14, currently situated in the middle of the FA5 noise. From Pablo Hernandez to 5-1 drubbings, I've seen it all at Elland Road.