Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa confesses admiration for Sheffield United

Thursday 14 March 2019 20:23, UK

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa says Saturday's opponents Sheffield United are one of the teams he has learned the most from this season.

Leeds are just two points ahead of third-placed Sheffield United and could leapfrog Norwich and go top of the Championship with a win against their Yorkshire rivals at Elland Road, live on Sky Sports Football at lunchtime on Saturday.

It now looks like a three-horse race for two automatic-promotion places to the Premier League and Bielsa has confessed his admiration for Chris Wilder's side.

"The team's [performances] talk about the coach that they have," Bielsa said.

"The team says a lot about their coach and I have learnt a lot from Sheffield United, it's one of the teams that I have learnt the most from this season.

"They have a new style of playing and they have been faithful to their style during the whole season.

"Each player is giving the best of himself and if you have a look at the players of Sheffield United before this season, you see clearly an evolution."

Leeds needed an 82nd-minute Pablo Hernandez strike to beat the Blades 1-0 in December's reverse fixture, and Bielsa is expecting a similarly difficult task for his side this weekend.

"When we played against them it was a hard win," he said.

"We probably didn't deserve to win, and for us it is a big challenge to play against them and to try to win this game. Our goal is to overcome Sheffield United and win against them."