The festive period sees the games come thick and fast with hardly any time to prepare. On Sunday, one of the EFL Championship leaders Leeds United travelled to St Andrew’s Stadium to face Pep Clotet’s Birmingham City. Both teams came into this game on a back of one-all draws on Boxing Day. This game was a perfect opportunity for both sides to get back into winning ways after picking up poor results in the last three games.
In this tactical analysis, we will take a closer look at both teams’ tactics that lead to such a thrilling encounter.
Lineups
Their opponents, Leeds United, made only a single change for this game. The striker Patrick Bamford made his way out for Arsenal loanee Edward Nketiah. Kiko Casilla remained between the sticks with Luke Ayling, Ben White and Liam Cooper forming the back three. Hélder Costa started the game on the right wing with Jack Harrison occupying the left. In the middle of the park, Kalvin Philips was the one to provide defensive cover for the back line with Stuart Dallas and Mateusz Klich playing slightly further ahead of him.
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