Marcelo Bielsa Admits He Is 'Worried' by Leaky Leeds Defence

Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa has admitted that he is concerned by the number of goals his team is conceding following Friday night’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham.

Leeds took the lead early on thanks to a twice-taken penalty from Mateusz Klich, but the visiting Hammers got back on level terms midway through the first half through Tomas Soucek, before Angelo Ogbonna eventually won it with a late header.

Leeds have scored 17 goals since their return to the top flight, which is comfortably better than most of the teams in the bottom half of the table. But they have conceded 22 goals in 12 games, which makes theirs the leakiest defence in the league apart from West Brom (23 in 11).

The 2019/20 Championship winners seem especially vulnerable in the air and at set-pieces.

“It worries me because it is a factor that is causing an uneven-ness and we’re finding it hard to correct it,” Bielsa told BBC Sport after the game.

The veteran coach said that a run of four defeats in the last six games also ‘worries’ him.

“[There are] no mysteries to the things we have to do,” he said.

“The set-pieces can be perfected by continuously training, to reproduce what happens in the game in training sessions. We will continue insisting on this until we solve the problem.”

Leeds are still eight points clear of the relegation zone ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures, but that could change if West Brom or Burnley pick up any points against Newcastle or Arsenal respectively.

Leeds themselves are next in action as Newcastle visit Elland Road on Wednesday. They then face Manchester United, Burnley and West Brom in a crucial run of fixtures before the end of December.

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