Steven Gerrard has stated that Leeds United were ‘really improved’ under their new boss Jesse Marsch on Saturday against Leicester City, as the Aston Villa boss told BBC Sport.
The American suffered a 1-0 defeat at the King Power in his first game as Leeds boss, and prior to Aston Villa’s 4-0 win against Southampton, Gerrard shared that he did watch the Yorkshire side in action during their lunchtime game.
The last time Villa and Leeds clashed, they recorded a 3-3 draw in the West Midlands, but that was against Marcelo Bielsa’s gung-ho and man-to-man marking system.
Over the weekend, Leeds were a lot more solid, from a defensive standpoint, including only facing the least amount of shots in the Premier League since October.
Ahead of Leeds’ Thursday night showdown against Villa, Gerrard is expecting the Elland Road crowd to provide Marsch with that bounce.
“Every manager is after consistency,” said Gerrard. “We have put in some good performances. Two clean sheets. The mood in the dressing room is really good.
“But you have to reset. Leeds away. They are going to get that new manager bounce.
“They were really improved. I watched the game against Leicester. And I am sure Elland Road is going to be behind them, so we have to be ready and prepare for that.”
On one hand, Leeds can take a lot from that weekend’s defeat because they were far improved from recent weeks.
Added with that, Marsch will have a vocal home crowd behind him on Thursday and he will be hoping his Leeds players use that against Villa.
But, on the other hand, Villa have just started to hit some form after a number of weeks of struggle.
Villa have won back-to-back matches, secured back-to-back clean sheets and also thrashed in-form Southampton 4-0 over the weekend.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
