Preston North End boss Alex Neil has claimed that he has never faced a better coach in the Championship than Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa.

Preston travel across the Pennines to face Leeds at Elland Road on Boxing Day, knowing that a win would help them close the gap on the top two.

Leeds are second as things stand, three points back from league leaders West Bromwich Albion and with an eight-point lead on Sheffield Wednesday in third.

Neil's side are just one point back from Wednesday in fifth and will be hoping that they can take advantage of Leeds' recent poor form and grab the three points on Thursday.

Bielsa's men are without a win in their last two games, having drawn to Cardiff City and lost to Fulham, while Preston have taken seven points from their last three games.

Speaking ahead of Thursday's game, Neil heaped praise on his opposition manager and suggested he was amongst the very best he'd faced in the division.

Via the club's official Twitter account, he said: "Bielsa is as good a coach as I’ve come up against in this division."

Leeds grabbed a late equaliser through Arsenal loanee Eddie Nketiah in the reverse fixture at Deepdale back in October.

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The Verdict 

Neil has managed 173 Championship games and has come up against some very talented coaches in that time, so it is a bold claim to make that none have been better than Bielsa.

However, you can certainly understand where he is coming from–the Argentine is a world-renowned coach looked up to by some of football's biggest names.

Many Leeds fans will likely still be pinching themselves that Bielsa is in charge at Elland Road and at this point, it looks as if he could be the man to end their 15-year absence from the Premier League.