Analysis: Leeds

Head coach Marcelo Bielsa made one change from his team’s previous game, a victory at Hull City. Stuart Dallas came in for Barry Douglas at left-back in a 4-1-4-1 structure, as Leeds began the match with great energy and tempo to their play.

Liam Cooper urged play forward right from the outset, driving forward from central defence and deep into midfield. The Leeds captain would look to attract Brentford’s attacking midfield unit to the ball, easing the pressure on lone pivot Kalvin Phillips – but Phillips was unconvincing in possession, which resulted in turnovers and gifted the away side central space to attack on the transition. The back line was alert to the danger, though, and placed immediate pressure on the ball should Brentford regain possession high.

Leeds failed to maintain sustained spells of possession throughout the first half, and thus struggled to establish any control over proceedings. They attempted to play longer balls from deep, looking to connect defence to attack with one pass – but without the required hold-up play and willing running from the injured Kemar Roofe, they were unsuccessful in locking on to these longer balls, with Luke Ayling and Jansson in particular giving possession away cheaply. This lack of patience with the ball led to more losses of possession within their opponents’ half, where Brentford demonstrated the calmness needed to consistently progress the ball forward. Third-man combinations released their midfield into the pockets of space surrounding lone pivot Phillips, as Samuel Saiz and Mateusz Klich rarely recovered back.

The hosts pushed both full-backs much higher when in possession at the start of the second half, but slow link-up play from the front line ensured Brentford’s double pivot could regain possession before Leeds could penetrate into the final third – this provided the visitors with the opportunity to attack the now vacant space left by full-backs Ayling and Dallas. Excellent examples of delayed defending from Jansson and Cooper worked to slow down this threat, however.

The back line continued to play longer balls forward towards Saiz, who had increased the distance of his movement. The Spaniard would often rotate from the central lane out into the left wide area – and these movements went untracked by the double pivot, which remained in the central lane. Should the ball forward from the defence hit its target, Saiz could combine with Ezgjan Alioski, who would then move inside the full-back. If the original ball proved inaccurate or mistimed, however, a lack of central cover could be exploited by Romaine Sawyers in the Brentford midfield.

Just as it seemed Leeds were gaining control of the match, an error from Cooper when playing out from the goalkeeper resulted in a contested penalty being awarded to Brentford. After the spot-kick had been converted, Bielsa reacted with a flurry of changes, using all three substitutions over the next 15 minutes. Now with greater energy in possession, Leeds reduced the number of long balls forward and instead looked to find their central midfielders between the lines. Brentford dropped into a temporary low block, but this only helped Leeds to gain full control of the contest. With wide midfielders Jack Harrison and Alioski now providing the attacking width and running at their respective full-backs, Leeds were able to test the Brentford back line with a flurry of crosses.

They continued to target the full-backs, and this pressure eventually paid off when Jansson met an Alioski free-kick from the left to head home an 88th-minute equaliser. Substitute Lewis Baker flicked a header across goal shortly after, but the draw looked all but guaranteed by the time right-back Ayling was dismissed in stoppage time.