West Brom boss Sam Allardyce ready for an ‘interesting’ tactical battle against Leeds

The Baggies enter the game buoyed from a defensive masterclass that led to them securing a point against champions Liverpool on Sunday.

But having won just one league game all season, they welcome Leeds tonight knowing they have to start winning matches quickly if they are to have a realistic chance of survival.

Under Bielsa, Leeds have one of the most distinctive playing styles in the country with the Argentinian famous for his gung-ho approach.

And Allardyce admits he is looking forward to the challenge of trying to limit their threat going forward while also exploiting their defensive frailties.

“Bielsa plays with intelligence and with a unique style,” Allardyce said when asked what he is expecting from Leeds. “I think it serves the players and the club in good stead.

“I think we have to find out a way how we can score against them.

“Sometimes that seems pretty easy, but football is never that straightforward.

“At the other end, they go out to try and score as many goals as they possibly can so we have to cancel that out.

“It’s going to be interesting to come up against them and coming up with a plan on how to tackle them.

“We have got an idea. When you play against Leeds, you know you have to try and stop them from being as adventurous as they are.

“But we also have to expose the weaknesses and the gaps and spaces that they leave.”

With the Leeds game arriving just 48 hours after the Liverpool match, Allardyce admits he may need to make changes to his team tonight.

But the 66-year-old – along with assistant boss Sammy Lee – have been in their jobs less than a fortnight.

And Allardyce admits that makes things harder when it comes to rotating players.

“We’ve looked at how they recover and how quickly we can recover,” the boss continued.

“Me and Sammy are not that sure about the squad yet because we have only trained with them – we have not seen them play much.

“I’m not so sure we can make too many changes.

“But certainly, we have done our absolute best to help the players recover quickly.

“And if there are changes to be made, hopefully, the player that comes in will do what the players did so well at Liverpool which is play together and work extremely hard.

“But obviously, against Leeds, we have to go and try and win.”

Meanwhile, Allardyce has hailed Sam Johnstone as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.

The shot-stopper has made more saves than any other keeper in the top flight this season – and made another outstanding stop against Liverpool.

“He’s one of the best,” Allardyce said when asked about Johnstone. “I think that’s pleasing to see as he’s one of the two most important people in your team.

“The goalscorer is the first and your goalkeeper is the second.

“He’s right up there at the right level.”