Leeds welcome Arne Slot and Liverpool to Elland Road for a Premier League clash on Saturday night.
A resounding 3-1 win over Chelsea on Wednesday has given Leeds fans hope of another memorable result against Liverpool, who are on a concerning run of nine defeats in their last 14 games.
Slot sounds worried after watching Leeds beat Chelsea, but instead of highlighting the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin or Ao Tanaka after that match, the Dutchman has pinpointed Lucas Perri as a potential problem for Liverpool.
Arne Slot suggests Liverpool could struggle to deal with “long balls” from Lucas Perri against Leeds United
Prediction time for Leeds United v Liverpool 🔮
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, the 47-year-old told the official Liverpool website: “So what we expect is what we’ve seen in the second half against [Manchester] City when they were 2-0 down, coming back to 2-2.
“Eventually [Phil] Foden made the difference with a moment of magic for City and against City they were really strong and played a very good game. They were really aggressive and had a lot of long balls as well from their goalkeeper. We know what to expect but what to expect is probably what we’ve faced [in] all of the games with maybe the exception of two.”
Jonny Cooper of Opta shared that 22.3% of passes from Leeds were long balls during the win over Chelsea – 5.5% more than in any other match since Daniel Farke took over – and the Blues struggled to handle such directness.
Clearly, the German is now telling his Leeds side, including Perri, to be more simplistic with the ball and utilise the running power of those up top, such as Lukas Nmecha and Calvert-Lewin.
Being direct helps Daniel Farke mask concerning Lucas Perri flaw at Leeds United
Farke spoke about Perri in his press conference and how the Brazilian could be better on the ball.
As many as nine players could miss Leeds v Liverpool through injury 🚑
Who will Leeds miss the most for this crucial game?
Leeds United injuries and doubts:
- Dan James (Out – Hamstring)
- Sean Longstaff (Out – Calf)
- Lukas Nmecha (Doubt – Hamstring)
- Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Doubt – Calf)
- Ao Tanaka (Doubt – Fatigue)
Liverpool injuries and doubts:
- Jeremie Frimpong (Out – Hamstring)
- Giovanni Leoni (Out – ACL)
- Conor Bradley (Doubt – Muscle injury)
- Joe Gomez (Doubt – Knock)
The 49-year-old said: “There are definitely also some areas where he has to improve and can improve, and this also comes a bit like with experience. So I also don’t think that we will make a number 10 out of him.
“It’s not like he will play like Diego Maradona on the ball, that’s definitely a fact, but it’s still something where he has to step up and has to improve.”
We assume Farke is discussing Perri playing shorter passes, as any goalkeeper worth their salt should be able to launch the ball up the pitch to the striker.
Therefore, instructing the South American to simply go long and aim for one of the frontmen – both of whom are over 6ft – should be a simple enough task, and is a way for the £16m man to mask his lack of quality on the ball.
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