Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa claims he would “prefer” Jack Grealish was fit ahead of his side’s clash with Aston Villa this weekend.
The Villa skipper looks set to miss out due a leg injury picked up on the eve of last weekend’s defeat to Leicester.
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But Bielsa has explained why it would be better if Grealish was available when they meet at Elland Road on Saturday.
“On one side he is a great player, a player who can unbalance,” Bielsa said.
“I always prefer when the opponent has their best players available because even if that fortifies a team, the best players make their teams more scary, more difficult to face.
“They’re also a stimulus for us. To face such players who are playing so well, to neutralise them, looking to impose yourself on an opponent with their best players and not debilitated. Like I said before, they’re a team with players to cover any absences.”
The Leeds chief was questioned on Villa being likened to his Leeds side this season, replying: “This is their second year back in the Premier League and they have made corrections. That’s an advantage because corrections come from mistakes made.
“It’s impossible to come from the Championship to the Premier League and not make errors because the levels are totally different.
“I do see a certain similarity in the characteristics of the players in each position. The players they have in each position, referring to the full-backs, the centre-backs, the defensive midfielder, the box-to-box and offensive midfielders, the two wingers and the centre forward – they’re players with similar characteristics to those we have. If you see something similar I do as well.”
A Patrick Bamford-inspired Leeds stormed to a 3-0 win over Villa in the reverse ficture back in October.
“Villa play very well,” Bielsa added.
“They are consistent. In that game, we had a very good version of ourselves. In the 20 games since, they’ve had ups and downs and so have we.
“As we have been speaking about lately, you construct a team to go from the bottom half of the table to the middle. From 15th to 10th, from 10th to fifth. Villa have deserved the changes they needed to make. They found solutions to the positions they thought they needed to improve.
“They managed to conserve the players that showed they had the level to play in this competition. They have some young players who compliment the project and make it efficient.”
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