This weekend sees Leeds United take on Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship, with two of the division’s unbeaten records going up against each other.

Leeds have 13 points from their opening five fixtures, whilst Boro boast an identical record as they head to Elland Road on Friday evening.

All eyes will be on Friday’s clash, and here at FLW, we take a tactical look at the contest, starting with the expected starting line ups:

 

Marcelo Bielsa won’t be expected to move away from the 4-1-4-1 system that has served Leeds so well so far this season. However, we’ve come to realise that the system is flexible, with the movement of Leeds’ players extremely clever.

Kalvin Phillips will drop into his usual role at a third centre-back, whilst Barry Douglas and Luke Ayling will push further forward into a wing-back role.

Samu Saiz, Ezgjan Alioski and Pablo Hernandez often line up in a three behind Kemar Roofe from there, but that could change this weekend.

Saiz will occupy his free role just ahead of Mateusz Klich, but Leeds could be tempted to push Alioski and Hernandez further forward to stretch Boro’s back three.

If Alioski and Hernandez can pull Daniel Ayala and Dael Fry into the channels, Roofe could be left to isolate Flint, which is where Leeds could get some success in the final third.

For Boro, we saw a very compact 5-3-2 last weekend, which brought Tony Pulis’ side a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion.

Boro will be tight defensively this weekend, but they should take a look at Preston North End’s approach against Leeds in the League Cup during the week. Alex Neil’s side counter-pressed Leeds and went 2-0 up within the first-half.

Pulis could push George Friend and Ryan Shotton into more advanced position at wing-back to do this, which in turn, will force Douglas and Ayling back.

A lot of Boro’s other attacking approach will be based around their set-piece, with Pulis’ side holding a significant height advantage over Leeds.

In terms of their defensive approach, the aggressive Mo Besic could be tasked with taking care of Saiz, who is Leeds’ main attacking threat.

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