Leeds United and Saturday's visitors Brentford are the Premier League's very best on opposite sides of a particular goalscoring scenario.
When Keith Andrews swapped the title of set piece coach for head coach of Brentford, it would have been a fair assumption that the Bees would continue to see the dead ball as a major source of joy. Last season in the Premier League they had the fifth-best goalscoring tally [13] when it came to set-pieces and as an added bonus the fourth most spot-kick goals. But this season, even with their set-piece specialist now in overall charge of things, the Bees have fallen way down the rankings for goals from corners, free-kicks and long throws. Ahead of Saturday's trip to Elland Road, Andrews' men sit 15th in the Premier League for set-play goals with eight. That's just two more than Wolves, who sit bottom. And it's five fewer than Leeds United. Defensively, however, Andrews has his men right where he wants them when the opposition are attacking from dead balls. The six they have conceded is the third best tally in the league.
But where Andrews has succeded in making Brentford truly dangerous, to what could be described as an elite level, is on the counter attack. Only Manchester City can say they have scored as many as the Bees on the counter this season, with both clubs boasting nine already. That more than doubles Brentford's tally for the entire 2024/25 Premier League campaign. It's right up there with the best numbers in Europe's 'big five' leagues.
According to a recent analysis piece by Coaches' Voice, Brentford are adapt at attacking from winning the ball in midfield and from defending deep. They can hurt the opposition from 'well within' their own half and the narrow positioning of his wingers - who add pace - help support the lone striker and create combinations. They're flexible and unpredictable going forward. They can be extremely direct and quick with it, too. In Igor Thiago they have a striker who finds good positions to receive passes on the counter and then finishes well.
But Brentford's super power is not Leeds United's kryptonite. Far from it. When it comes to conceding goals from counter attacks, Leeds United are the joint best in the Premier League. There are six teams who have allowed just a single goal against from a counter this season and Daniel Farke's Leeds are one of them.
Controlling the opposition's ability to counter has been a big part of Farke's tactical set-up from the very beginning at Leeds. He's particular in where he wants bodies even while the Whites have possession, in order to protect his side from being hurt in transition moments and that was just as true in the Championship - they conceded just four on the counter last season and a league-best two in his first campaign - as it is now in the top flight. There has always been a place in his team for a midfield enforcer and often he includes a second - Ilia Gruev - who can regularly be seen tracking a dangerman so he can quickly jump into defensive mode if needs be.
While Leeds were a possession team in the Championship Farke would routinely talk about wanting to prepare attacks 'in the right way' and much of that was due to his self-described 'realistic pessimist' tendencies. Attacking in the right way means not leaving yourself open to counters. It did not always earn him credit or favour with fans who wanted Leeds to cut loose and blow teams away, but patience in possession did often pay off for the Whites thanks to the one-v-one ability of their wingers, most noticeably last season and especially late in games when the opposition were mentally and physically drained by having to switch left and right all afternoon. That patience also meant Leeds were always well positioned to react should they lose the ball.
In the Premier League, things were always going to be different. Farke no longer boasts the superior individual talent in any given game. Making Leeds compact, physical and harder to play through were among the stated aims as he and the transfer chiefs set about building a new team. The knowledge that mistakes or even simply the allowance of space can be punished so ruthlessly by the elite individual talent on display in the top flight has guided much of Leeds' approach in and out of possession this season. Even in the recent battle with Sunderland at Elland Road, he admitted after the game that he was concerned about running into counter attacks with Leeds dominating possession and the Black Cats sitting deep. It was on his mind for the Nottingham Forest game, too. Gruev was part of the midfield set-up for both games, and even if they only won one of the two, they protected themselves by and large from being hurt on the break. As they have done for much of the season.
When it comes to countering themselves, Farke's Leeds could be devastating in the Championship. They scored a league-best 12 in his first season and topped the division again with 10 last season. This season they have but one single goal from a counter attack after 30 games. The same is true of Aston Villa and Burnley. Only Brighton and Crystal Palace are yet to find the net from a counter. Perhaps the way Farke constructs his team, with a single striker and narrow, industrious attacking midfielders rather than wide, nippy wingers, plays into such a drastic change of attacking fortunes in transitions. They do win the ball and profit but that takes place much higher up the pitch and so does not register as a counter attack, which by Opta's definition comes from regaining possession in one's own half.
So where Brentford are very good - scoring from counters - Leeds are almost a perfect foil. One of the Premier League's irresistible counter attacking forces meets one of the division's immovable objects. And if Farke's hunger for control can counter one of Brentford's key strengths it could protect his side from potentially fatal damage on a night when they must take points.
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