West Brom v Leeds: Test holds no fear for the Baggies
Albion boss Slaven Bilic insists his side are ‘not afraid’ of promotion challengers Leeds as they prepare to face the Yorkshire club in a top-of-the-table clash.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side arrive in the Black Country top of the league after leapfrogging the Baggies on Sunday, writes Liam Keen.
Albion’s final game of the decade saw them suffer only their second defeat of the season when Middlesbrough won 2-0 at The Hawthorns.
Leeds’ spectacular 5-4 victory away at Birmingham puts them in pole position ahead of the clash, leading Albion on goal difference with both sides on 51 points.
United are the only other side to have beaten Albion this season when a Kyle Bartley own goal was enough to separate the sides at Elland Road in October.
But Bielsa’s side have started to ship goals in defence and Bilic believes Albion have it all to gain.
“Normally they don’t concede, but they conceded three against Cardiff and they were equal in the last three or four games to the first 20 game,” he said.
“In the first 20 games they conceded 10 goals and in the last three it is nine.
“But they scored five.
“We are not afraid of any team and we are not afraid of Leeds, but they are there with us and now above us on goal difference.
“They are one of the best teams.
“It’s a massive game.
“It is more than a game, it’s more than three points.
“It’s like derby games.
“You can gain more than you can lose in those kind of games.”
Regular starter Romaine Sawyers was rested for the clash with Boro, opening the door for veteran midfielder Gareth Barry to take his place.
Sawyers and Jake Livermore have struck up an important partnership in the middle of the park this season and the 28-year-old is expected to be given the nod against Leeds.
Bilic is also likely to have a tough call to make with his full-backs as all four are set to be fit and available for selection.
Darnell Furlong and Nathan Ferguson started against Boro, but Conor Townsend – who replaced Ferguson at half-time in that game – will be pushing for a starting spot.
Kieran Gibbs will offer a welcome return from injury and is set to give Bilic a selection headache.
He’ll be joined by Bartley and Grady Diangana, who are pushing for a return to the side after recovering from knocks.
Meanwhile, Bilic is trying to keep his players grounded as they chase promotion.
The club are well placed to earn their place back in the Premier League after a tremendous start to the season. But the manager is keen to curb talk of promotion at the halfway point in the season.
“This is what I’m trying to stop. We shouldn’t talk about it,” he said.
“The second round of games only just started and of course the gap is there, but at least we have to keep that gap, and to keep that gap you have to win games.
“You can’t lose too many games because other teams are waiting for that.
“Sometimes it’s at the beginning of the season and some times it’s at the end, no team is consistent for the whole year.
“If this is that period for us, then OK, but let’s make it very short. Let’s stop it and only we can stop it with the right determination, the right commitment and the right training and the right quality.”
