Leeds United preview: Everything Bruno Lage had to say about Wolves’ opponents

Bruno Lage’s side travel to Elland Road to take on an injury stricken Leeds United
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Wolverhampton Wanderers travel to Elland Road on Saturday looking to make it four Premier League wins on the bounce.

Bruno Lage’s side go into the game in by far their best form of the season. After a rocky opening, they have really found their feet in recent weeks and with numerous players edging closer to a return to fitness, things are looking up in the Black Country.

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Leeds United on the other hand have endured a more difficult start to the campaign - sitting one place above the drop zone after registering just one league win so far.

But despite that, Lage won’t be taking the Whites lightly. He believes the game will be played in a similar style to that of the win at Villa Park last weekend and the Portuguese manager also claimed that ‘it’s going to be a pleasure’ to take on a Marcelo Bielsa team.

Conor Coady puts Wolves level at Villa Park. Pic: Alex Morton.Conor Coady puts Wolves level at Villa Park. Pic: Alex Morton.
Conor Coady puts Wolves level at Villa Park. Pic: Alex Morton.

When asked what he expects from the game, Lage said: “Like it was against Aston Villa. Aston Villa press high, they know when to press and they have the strikers to run and when they have the ball they create a lot of problems.”

“In the first minutes what we’re going to see is one team fighting for the ball and trying to create a lot of problems for the other one and the other pressing high to have more time with the ball.

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“I said to my players yesterday and today, we had to try and understand how they play in the offensive way and defensive way. It’s going to be a good challenge for us to play against Leeds because they know how to do a lot of things when they have the ball and the way they press is very good. It’s going to be a good challenge for us.

“We should win every game. That’s the mentality I want. If you look back the way we played against strong teams like Leicester, Tottenham and Manchester United, we go with that mentality so every game is important and every game we go with that mentality to win.

“They [the players] need to adapt to the reality that tomorrow we will play against a strong team. I don’t want anything from the past. What I want is 100% commitment and focus on what we have to do in 90 minutes.

“When you look for the team, the way they play, the game is there.

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“If you look at the way they played for example against Newcastle, you can see they are a top team with top players. Players I know because they played in Portugal. You can see they are a strong side.”

DECISIONS: Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa, above, must decide whether to change things up for Saturday's hosting of Wolves. Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images.DECISIONS: Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa, above, must decide whether to change things up for Saturday's hosting of Wolves. Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images.
DECISIONS: Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa, above, must decide whether to change things up for Saturday's hosting of Wolves. Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images.

The former Benfica boss also found the time to pay respect to the man that will be stood in the opposite dugout to him on Saturday.

Lage revealed that he’s only met Bielsa once, briefly, prior to this season getting underway but he was a fan from the off.

“I met him at the beginning of the season when we had the manager’s meeting, I spoke with him for five minutes,” he said.

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“We spoke about my player at Benfica, Helder Costa, and the way he talked about him seemed like he was a real gentleman. He’s a gentleman outside of football and he has a brilliant footballing mind.

“When you have the chance to analyse his team and the way he plays, you’re going to play against a strong opponent.

“From my point of view, when I study the teams, first I want to see how they defend and if they run or not. When you look for Leeds, you can see they run they press high. They don’t feel comfortable without the ball so they press high to get the ball as soon as possible.

“And you have to look how they attack. If they want to have the ball or they want to have just two or three touches. When you look for Leeds, you can see they do both things very good.

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“Tomorrow we are going to play against a strong team. It’s going to be a pleasure to play against Bielsa because when you look for the team, you can learn a lot of things. The way he moves, the way he wants his team to play.

“It’s going to be a good challenge for us.”

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