Leeds United have a difficult clash ahead of them if they are to seal safety from relegation from the Premier League, as they travel to Brentford today.
Leeds come into the final day of the season having ended their three-game run of losses, as they managed a late equaliser at home to Brighton last time out.
Their battle to finish above the bottom three has been taken to the final day, though, as they only managed to move a point clear of Burnley last weekend.
An away trip to Brentford presents significant challenges to have to overcome if they are to get a result, given the Bees’ strong first season in the Premier League.
Here are two issues that we think Marsch needs to rectify against Brentford…
Midfield shape
Brighton overran Leeds through the middle of the pitch for big portions of the game, and whether that is own to the formation, or the players involved is a key question.
The answer is that it’s a bit of both.
Leeds’ high pressing gives us four players looking to get at the ball-playing defence, but once that is bypassed, there are just two midfielders there to plug the gaps.
Not only that, but when Kalvin Phillips and Mateusz Klich did that against the Seagulls, they did it poorly, almost lazily.
If Leeds want to snuff out the threat from deep posed by Christian Eriksen, then they’re going to need to get a grip of that part of the pitch.
Will Leeds win at Brentford?
Yes
No
Wing-backs
It’s easy to say that Brentford’s wing-backs were on top against Everton because the Toffees played a lot of the game with 10 men, and then nine later on.
However, that doesn’t diminish the fact that if you give their wide players a chance to hurt you, they will.
Our full-backs have been a major problem this season, with their shape, and ability to cope 1v1 with attackers.
Junior Firpo actually put in arguably his best display of the season against Brighton, before being subbed off for the goalscorer, Pascal Struijk, so the left side doesn’t need to change much if they perform like that again.
That said, there is a question mark over who plays on the right, with Jamie Shackleton making his first appearance under Marsch, and looking steady in the process.
Robin Koch has provided a good outlet to the sid playing there, but whatever Marsch does, he need to make sure that he gets very good performances from both flanks.