Brentford manager's plan for new-look Leeds United with 'uncomfortable' admission
Leeds United have become a more unpredictable Premier League opponent in recent weeks.
Brentford head coach Keith Andrews will have a plan to combat either of Leeds United’s formations having seen his weekend opponents switch things up recently.
Leeds head to Brentford this Sunday off the back of an excellent week back home in which they took four points in two games against Champions League opposition. Having switched to a 3-5-2 formation during the half-time break at Manchester City, Whites boss Daniel Farke stuck with it to beat Chelsea 3-1 on Wednesday evening and kept it again for Liverpool on Saturday.
At 2-0 down on 65 minutes, Farke returned to a back-four and his trio of changes brought instant results, with all three introductions playing their part in a dramatic 3-3 draw. The German’s tactical tweaks have given Leeds an air of unpredictability going into Sunday’s game at Brentford and Andrews has been impressed with what he’s seen.
“They’re a very resilient team, showed a lot of character in recent weeks in particular,” the Brentford boss said of Leeds. “The results they’ve had, the performances, alternating between the two systems that they've operated with.
“So we’ll prepare for both of those systems obviously and whatever they throw at us. But we’re in a good place at home, how we operate and the environment we can create there. As per usual, we’ll focus mainly on ourselves.”
The challenge for Farke will be taking that home momentum on the road with his squad. Leeds have lost all but one of their seven away games, their sole victory coming at rock-bottom Wolves back in September.
Brentford boss on home form ahead of Leeds United visit
There aren’t many tougher places to go than Brentford this season, whose only defeat at home came against title contenders Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's side are one of just three to claim more points in front of their own fans than Andrews’ side, the others being Arsenal and Aston Villa who make up the Premier League’s top three.
“I think there’s a special energy in the stadium, the feeling and connection between the players and fans is pretty special,” Andrews said when asked for the secret behind that home form. “I think we feed off that a little bit, we make life pretty uncomfortable for the opposition.
“I think opposition teams are pretty aware of that and they obviously have their game plan around how they can try to affect that. But we’ve been pretty good at home and hopefully that continues on Sunday.”
Brentford will be without German forward Kevin Schade on Sunday due to suspension after he picked up a fifth yellow card of the season against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. Long-term injured trio Fabio Carvalho, Antoni Milambo and Joshua Dasilva remain absent, while Reiss Nelson could recover from a knock in time to feature.
Leeds boss Farke will provide an update regarding his squad on Friday, including Lukas Nmecha who missed Saturday’s draw against Liverpool with a hamstring problem. Dan James and Sean Longstaff will be unavailable due to hamstring tendon and calf injuries respectively.