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Leeds Live
Leeds Live
Sport
Kieran King

Leeds United fans urge Jesse Marsch to make four changes for Norwich City clash

There was some frustration amongst the Leeds United fanbase about Jesse Marsch's team selection for the 3-0 defeat against Aston Villa on Thursday night.

This was after the American decided to stick with Luke Ayling at centre-back alongside Pascal Struijk, while Stuart Dallas was preferred on the right side of defence rather than in midfield.

Marsch has tried to set Leeds up so that they are harder to break down in his first two games in charge, but it hasn't worked so far, losing both matches against Leicester City and Villa.

Despite playing well at Leicester, Leeds were undone on the counter-attack, while goals from Phillipe Coutinho, Matty Cash and Callum Chambers gave Steven Gerrard's Villa a thumping victory at Elland Road.

It's a pair of results that has put more pressure on the Whites to beat Norwich City in what is a pivotal encounter towards the bottom of the Premier League. Leeds currently sit 16th, just two points above the bottom three heading into the game.

With 10 games to go, Leeds need to get points on the board quickly if they are to stand any chance of staying in the division and Marsch has a selection dilemma about who he selects to play.

The Whites struggled both offensively and defensively in the midweek defeat and Marsch could make a number of changes, with Patrick Bamford, Joe Gelhardt and Diego Llorente all pushing for a start.

And according to Leeds Live's select your XI widget, the most popular team that fans have picked for the game against Norwich include those three players, while Robin Koch has been chosen by the supporters.

This would likely see Leeds stay in a 4-4-2 or 4-2-2-2 formation, with Jack Harrison, Junior Firpo, Pascal Struijk and Rodrigo all dropping out after failing to impress of recent late. A complete transformation to the Whites' front two could be needed to insert some energy and extra quality to the side.

Bamford hasn't started a game since September after being out with a number of different injuries, while Gelhardt was mainly used as an impact player during Marcelo Bielsa's time in charge.

Meanwhile, the back-line would see Ayling shift back across to his more natural right-back role, while Dallas switches to left-back as Firpo is ruled out with a long-term injury.

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