West Brom can learn way to expose Leeds
Albion will be aiming to capitalise on Leeds United’s indifferent home form when the two Championship giants lock horns tonight.
Slaven Bilic’s men head to Yorkshire knowing they will make history if they get a positive result at Elland Road.
Never before have Albion managed to avoid defeat in their opening 10 league games.
But they are now braced for their toughest test so far, with Leeds still the bookmakers’ favourites to lift the Championship crown this year.
Pundits often hail them as the best team in the league. And yet not everything is going to plan for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, particularly at Elland Road.
In their four home matches this season, Leeds have tasted victory just once – a 1-0 win over Brentford.
The other three games have seen them beaten by Swansea, while they drew with Nottingham Forest and Derby.
Having also lost at Charlton on Saturday, it means the Baggies now face a side who have tasted victory just once in their last five outings.
And there are plenty of areas where Bilic will feel his team can get at their promotion rivals – with Lee Bowyer having already given him a helping hand.
The Charlton boss made some interesting observations after masterminding his side’s win on Saturday.
“A lot of teams sit off Leeds and let them play out and through the lines,” he said.
“But the plan was to try and press them high and win the ball high.
“We would then change to three at the back because I noticed from watching games that they struggle to create many chances against teams that play three at the back.”
It went somewhat under the radar, but Albion tweaked their system to play with a back three at times in the win at QPR.
Nathan Ferguson would often drift inside to join forces with Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi.
And that could be crucial with central midfielders Mateusz Klich and Jamie Shackleton eager to run from deep to support Leeds’ lone striker.
There are other big battles Albion will have to win, though, if they are to leave Elland Road with their unbeaten record still intact.
Brazilian number 10 Matheus Pereira is likely to go toe-to-toe with Kalvin Phillips, who is Leeds’ chief playmaker and sits in front of the back four.
Pereira was majestic in the win at QPR on Saturday. But at Fulham he showed he was willing to sacrifice his attacking instincts for the good of the team. And he may need to do that again here.
Another key element to this game could be Bilic’s substitutes.
Albion have been devastating from the bench this season.
Leeds, meanwhile, are susceptible to a late sucker punch. They may have only conceded five times in the league so far.
But four of them have come after the 75th minute.
They only exception arrived on Saturday when Charlton scored just past the half-hour mark in their 1-0 win.
