Beren Cross, The Athletic: Why Leeds v Brentford will be special game | OneFootball

Leeds United are set to provide a fierce test for Brentford on Saturday (8pm kick-off GMT, live on Sky Sports), explained The Athletic's Beren Cross, with Daniel Farke’s side expected to lean heavily on the atmosphere and intensity at Elland Road.

The Bees should expect Leeds to try and get on the front foot and harness the atmosphere in the early stages of the game, as the hosts look to secure a result to steer them clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

Leeds are 15th in the Premier League table going into Saturday’s game against Brentford. What have you made of how it has gone for them in the first three months of 2026?

Ahead of the previous meeting, it looked like the form had started to turn a little bit for Leeds. They had just moved to this back-three/back-five system a few games prior; it has continued in the same vein, really, and they have gone from strength to strength since then.

It is hard to draw conclusions until we know the outcome of the season in May because it is still very close and a bit too close for comfort. They are still very much in the relegation battle, and it could well go against them. Nobody is allowing themselves to be optimistic for fear of being too vulnerable and then feeling the pain of it by the end of the season.

Looking at it objectively, they are three points clear of the bottom three, but they would need all three of West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham to go past them, and people would probably say it is unlikely that would happen, especially when Leeds have been so solid. Other than Arsenal, nobody has really battered them this season.

As the table shows, there have been a lot of draws, narrow defeats and narrow victories but, crucially, for a newly-promoted team, they have been very competitive.

Last Sunday against Crystal Palace, in the first half, Leeds were very competitive and were well in the game. I would probably say it was quite even, if not maybe leaning a bit towards Leeds. Then Dominic Calvert-Lewin got the penalty, missed it, and then there was the drama - and, arguably, a mistake - around Gabriel Gudmundsson’s sending off. Then the entire game changed in the second half, expectations were lowered, and they came away with a 0-0 draw, having played 45 minutes with 10 men.

There had been home defeats to Manchester City and Sunderland prior to that. In the latter, all the statistics were with Leeds - you could play that game 100 times and they would probably win 99 of them - and there is no shame in losing 1-0 at home to City, given what they have at their disposal.

There have been a few wobbles there and, while it is four losses in 17, which is very good, it is also only four wins in 17 and there have been a lot of draws in there.

The Palace game settled people down a little bit because, if they had lost again, it would have been three defeats on the bounce. Without rewriting history, there has been a lot of merit in the draws they have got, but you only get one point for them, of course. And because a few of those draws could have been wins, which would have made Leeds’ position far more relaxed, it has not given them that big boost and that ability to pull away from the bottom three.

There is tentative confidence, and it is fair to say that if you offered anyone of a Leeds persuasion the current league table in August, they would have taken it.

You spoke about it before the meeting at the Gtech in December, but how important has that change in setup in the second half of the Manchester City game been to the season as a whole?

Without looking at the hard numbers in front of me, they have not really been peppered, Arsenal aside. They went away to Brighton and lost 3-0, and then they went away to Forest and lost 3-1, which was probably the low point of the season. They only lost by one goal to Aston Villa, they only lost by one goal to City away.

The overall system has been really well received though and, because it has now been 17 games, it does feel a little bit like old news as nearly half a season has passed since then.

The formation has been established and it is clear: that solid back three with centre-backs, with the wing-backs either tucking in or going forward has definitely solidified them. There are definite variations; it has settled into more of a 3-4-2-1, where Calvert-Lewin is at the tip of the attack, with Brenden Aaronson behind him and either Noah Okafor, Anton Stach or Lukas Nmecha, as it was on Sunday. Depending on who the opposition is, it is horses for courses.

What is interesting going into this game with Brentford is what Daniel Farke does with Nmecha. Right back at the start of this run, they beat Chelsea 3-1 and, on that particular night, he played a 5-3-2, with Nmecha and Calvert-Lewin as a proper two-man strikeforce, and they absolutely ran Chelsea ragged. It was hugely impressive and gave everyone a lot of optimism.

Since then, Nmecha has sadly picked up niggles here and there, and Calvert-Lewin’s injury record is not great either, so Farke has sought to manage them both. Calvert-Lewin has only missed one game since then and that was through illness in February, so he is the de facto starter, and Nmecha has flitted in and out of the team, but has generally been the back-up on the bench.

It was nice to see him back in the starting line-up against Palace, so it will be interesting to see what Farke does against Brentford. The general feeling around the fanbase and the press box is that it would be nice to see Nmecha start again and go back to a two-man strikeforce because, against Palace, he was more behind Calvert-Lewin, with Aaronson in that 3-4-2-1 shape.

Clearly Farke knows best; he is the manager and has got more information than we have but, from the outside, it would be nice if they changed to a more conventional 3-5-2, with those two in attack.

They are three points outside the relegation zone at the moment. What’s the general feeling like in terms of whether they can keep their heads above water across the final weeks?

It is cautious optimism. If you look at the hard facts, they are in a good place and maybe the sanest way to look at it is that they are on 32 points now and, in any normal season, you might say six more points get you safe in most of the last 20 seasons or so.

Even if you allow for this season being a bit different, with West Ham improving, we know what firepower Forest have got. If they keep averaging one point per game, regardless of what the other three teams do, that should get them safe.

It is easy as a football fan to worry about what other teams are doing and some will look at West Ham’s run-in and assume, by some method, they win five games, which is entirely unrealistic and bucks every trend they have set this season.

People look at the worst-case scenario but Leeds, effectively, need two wins and two draws; when you put it like that, it does feel quite manageable, especially when Wolves and Burnley still need to come to Elland Road. Put it this way, if Leeds are going to stay up, they have to win those games.

It would take a significant collapse from this point for them to get relegated, and I think everyone would acknowledge they would be deserving of relegation if they fell away at this stage.

Which player should Brentford be keeping an eye out for on Saturday?

From the outside looking in, Calvert-Lewin is probably the best-known player and would be the straightforward answer, but it has been a team this year, rather than one individual carrying them. I am not going to sit on the fence, but it is hard to pick one.

It is maybe a niche answer, but James Justin has been quietly brilliant this year. He has built a reputation; came through at Luton, moved on to Leicester and had a very solid Premier League spell with them. He got one England cap a few years ago, which shows the level he got to as a very steady full-back.

He came into Leeds in the summer without much fanfare and was very much a back-up to Gudmundsson and Jayden Bogle, as he is versatile and can play on both sides. It took him about half a season, since New Year’s Day, he has been ever-present and has now really cemented himself in this team as a very dependable, experienced, mature performer. He seems to have quite a steady head on his shoulders.

On Sunday, he was picked ahead of Bogle at right-back and, with Leeds-tinted glasses on, Bogle has been one of the best right-backs I have seen in the league this year. I am sure he will not go to the World Cup, but if you are looking at a debate about English right-backs in the Premier League, I am sure Bogle would be there in the top four or five.

So that speaks to how well Justin has done, that he kept Bogle out of the team on Sunday. Gudmundsson will be suspended, so I imagine he will start as the left wing-back against Brentford.

What should Keith Andrews’ side expect in terms of shape and style?

Saturday is going to be quite a special game. I am sure Brentford will have done all their research on Elland Road under the lights and the record Leeds have had for quite a few years now. After the adversity of what happened at Palace, with the red card and missing the penalty, the stadium will be bouncing.

It will not be easy, but there will be a desire for Leeds to really go for it and, without being too gung-ho, really try to assert themselves. It will definitely be a back three or back five or sorts, and I imagine it will be all guns blazing.

I do not think it will be long balls up to Calvert-Lewin and then flick-ons; they can play through the thirds as well, and those wing-backs are so important in terms of providing that passing option out wide and overwhelming an opposition backline as well. They can stretch the pitch, in that sense, and then get crosses into Calvert-Lewin. Without getting too bogged down in tactical speak,

Brentford should expect Leeds to try and get on the front foot and harness the atmosphere in the first 10 to 15 minutes.

What’s your score prediction?

I have got to be optimistic in a game like this, so I will go for a 2-1 win for Leeds.