Bielsa, Lampard and the stat that will fill Whites fans with belief and dread - 5 things you need to know ahead of Leeds United's play-off clash with Derby County
1 - What Bielsa has said...
On leading Derby 7-1 on aggregate over three games this season...
"Every game was different," Bielsa said.
"We won one game with just one goal of difference, one with two goals of difference and in the first game we were the same team as we were now and Derby was a lot inferior to what they are now.
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Hide Ad"So we should be careful about the analysis. And actually it’s not 7-1. I think we should analyse more the 1-0 game and the 2-0 game.
"Even in this case, it wouldn’t be 3-0 because we won one game with the smallest margin possible and the other one was just a two-goal difference. It’s a small difference, you can’t build a big distance between both teams because of this small distance.
"We would like to have the same performance as the last two games against Derby but we know it’s going to be very hard."
2 - What Lampard has said...
On how Derby can beat Leeds...
"We just have to worry about ourselves," Lampard said.
"I don't think we have to go crazy. It is half-time in a game where we are 1-0 down.
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Hide Ad"I know this year, pretty much more than any team we are a team that has come back from negative results and turned them around to positives. This will be our biggest test yet on that front.
"I want the lads to apply themselves as they have been doing recently, because I cannot complain about anything. If we can change those small details on the ball, and we have to be a bit more composed.
"We have some young players and they have to accept the pressure of what Elland Road will bring, and be confident, because I will back them.
"I want them to play football. I want them to give everything so they come off the pitch win, lose or draw and say they gave everything."
3 - The stat that brings belief and fear
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Hide AdOut of the 17 sides who have won the first leg of the play-off semi-finals away from home in the second tier, all 17 teams have gone on to qualify for the final.
4 - Do United have Derby's number?
Marcelo Bielsa has beaten Derby three times already this season.
United have never beaten a side four times in one campaign in their history, though it is not often two sides meet as many times in one year.
County have lost only 15 competitive games under Lampard this season, with Leeds responsible for 20% of those defeats in 2018/19.
One more wouldn't hurt, would it?
5 - Leeds fans will be key...
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Hide AdMarcelo Bielsa and Liam Cooper know that the United fans will play a key role this evening... with the pair both talking up the Elland Road crowd:
“It’s always electric but I’d go as far as saying it’ll probably be the best we’ve heard it this season,” Cooper said.
“We need the fans to be intimidating. It always helps. Even through the bad days they’ve always been there and hopefully we can feed off that energy."
Bielsa added: “The importance of the Leeds fans in the behaviour of the team has been shown in many moments, when our players faced adversity and overcame it because of the fans.
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Hide Ad“The fans do that without needing any message and what makes them special is that they don’t answer to things you ask them to do. They don’t need to be asked to do things.
“Emotion is an ingredient which allows you to use your skills better. It’s something normal and natural and we want to play the game in these conditions."