Leeds United will host Bristol City at the Elland Road in the midweek fixture in what promises to be a huge game for Garry Monk and his troops. In the Championship play-off berths, the pressure is rising and it has taken a toll on Leeds United as they succumbed in their last two outings, which has lowered their lead over seventh placed Norwich City to merely four points. They must pull out something spectacular out of their hat in their next outing and here are three things that should revolve in their tactics when they face Bristol City:
Wood & Co. Have To Step Up
The forward line of the Peacocks was in tatters and none other than their star performer in the shape of Chris Wood should lead the charge up front. The New Zealand international has turned cold lately but has shown his stature by banging as many as 18 goals from 30 appearances in the second tier of English football. His ability of holding up the game, posing threat in the air and clinical striking will come into play once again when he faces Lee Johnson’s side. Further, the likes Alfonso Pedreza and Pablo Hernandez should also lend their helping hand to turn the fortunes in favour of Leeds United.
Let Sacko Be Himself
Let’s get one thing straight here: Hadi Sacko is arguably the fastest play under Monk but more often than not, he has been wrongly utilised or underutilised under the tutelage of the former Swansea City manager. In 27 appearances for the Whites so far this campaign, Sacko has bagged merely 2 goals and 4 assists along with creating 24 chances, but he has much more on offer than what these statistics suggests.
The 22-year-old has been afraid lately of getting into the main areas, hasn’t really got himself into the groove and has lacked a positional sense as well. Against an underperforming Bristol City, Monk should experiment by giving a license to Sacko to accelerate and make driving runs with purpose and aim at the goal which can very well reap dividends and control the tempo of the game from the middle of the park.
Keep Possession
Maintaining possession against a team of smaller stature always helps and Monk should urge his men to do the same, but they should not keep the possession just for the sake of it. The Robins should be starved, and relentless pressing would hold the key to forcing them into committing errors. Bristol City’s chances of scoring would get limited in the process and it is likely to help Leeds United in multiplying their chances by spending more time in the opponents’ half rather than toiling in their own with a very attacking minded setup.
