‘I think’: Leeds boss Jesse Marsch delivers honest verdict on Aston Villa before facing them tomorrow

Add as preferred source on Google

Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch has talked up Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa before facing them on Sunday afternoon.

Marsch says that Villa’s defensive organisation has helped them through a tricky period which saw Gerrard’s job come under question.

He was asked about Villa at his pre-match press conference ahead of Leeds’ return to Premier League action this weekend.

Leeds boss Marsch on Villa

On Villa, he said: We played them last year. We played them in pre-season. We didn’t have our best matches in either moments. I think that they have quality on the pitch, they’re very organised, especially with the way they defend.

“I think that’s the thing that’s gotten them out of their tough spell at the beginning of the season, they’ve been defending really well and very organised specifically against the ball.

“They can be a threat on set pieces and in transition moments so it’ll be a tight match. I’m sure of that, it will be an intensive match and we will have to be very intelligent, specifically when we’re in possession on how we balance out protecting the opponent from getting into transition moments.

“I think at Elland Road the one thing we will want to do is really go after the game to be aggressive to use our crowd to play with intensity, to play with speed, to play with power and to play with intelligence. That will certainly be a big part of what we try to achieve on the day.”

This should be a hotly contested game between two sides who will be eager to get back into action with a win after the international break.

Villa have improved of late, spurred on by a surprise draw against Manchester City which came at a time when Gerrard was really under the cosh.

There should be confidence on both sides but Marsch will hope to pile misery on Gerrard at Elland Road on Sunday afternoon.