Aston Villa give Jesse Marsch fresh headache after promising Leeds United display at Leicester

One of the biggest surprises in the American’s first Leeds United line-up was the make-up of his central midfield, with Robin Koch alongside Mateusz Klich. There was no place for Adam Forshaw, arguably Leeds most consistent operator anywhere on the pitch this season, let alone the midfield, since his return from injury.

With Kalvin Phillips not yet fit to return, Marsch was happy to follow in Marcelo Bielsa’s footsteps and turned to German international Koch, a centre-half who also now happens to have played 71 games in a defensive midfield role.

Marsch explained after the game that he had gone with a team that had mostly been able to train during his first week at Thorp Arch and were fully fit.

“This was the group where most of them were able to work through the week,” he said.

“I spoke to Adam before the match, the fact that he wasn’t able to train, we needed to put as many players who were 100 per cent on the pitch from the start as we could.”

The implication was clear - Forshaw more than likely would have got a start had he been in ideal condition, although whose place he would have taken remains unclear.

Yet without him, Leeds did a number on the Foxes’ midfield for long periods of the game and helped gain a measure of control that has been beyond them for much of this season.

Although they were unable to play out from the back through either Koch or Klich much at all, both men were busy off the ball, maintaining a line of two in front of the back four and forming a solid base that allowed the front four to go and attack.

When the chance arose, both men joined in with attacks but stayed disciplined and took few risks with their positioning. They pressed high to hem Leicester in when they could and, when the home side’s midfield looked up with the ball, they saw white shirts instead of the gaping holes opposition teams have been able to exploit in recent weeks.

Leicester’s threat almost exclusively came out wide as Koch clamped onto the ordinarily influential Youri Tielemans, who got nowhere near his season average of 69.8 touches per 90 minutes and found his touches in the attacking third of the pitch halved in this game.

When Leeds had the ball Klich was the more influential of the two midfielders, as expected, and passed it forward well.

What was different, and refreshing, was the sight of either Klich or Koch coming across the pitch to snuff out opposition surges before they got anywhere near the final third.

With Tielemans nullified - Koch was beating him in the air and anticipating passes to him - Leeds took over the first half.

It was midway through the second half, with the game stretched, that Leicester’s Belgian playmaker finally threw off his white blanket and it proved costly for Leeds. When an attack broke down and Kasper Schmeichel threw the ball out, a quartet of Leeds attackers were still in the area and Klich had to move to his right to try and block the counter, with Koch moving across too.

Tielemans was left free and swept the ball right then, as Leicester advanced into the Leeds half, he dropped into a pocket of space and pinged it left to Harvey Barnes, who got a run on Stuart Dallas, played a smart one-two and placed the winner beyond Illan Meslier.

The goal sparked a little purple patch for Tielemans, who helped Leicester play in the Leeds half for a spell and refused to let Koch get the better of him again, but had their private battle gone to the judges’ scorecards then the German would have come out on top thanks to his earlier dominance.

That performance from Koch bodes well but, with Aston Villa employing a midfield three to such good effect against Southampton at the weekend, behind attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho, Marsch will need to get his selection just right on Thursday at Elland Road to prevent the Whites from being over-run.

The Brazilian, like Tielemans, will still need special attention, whether from Koch or Forshaw, but Leeds cannot ignore John McGinn, Douglas Luiz and Jacob Ramsey.

What fans can take heart from is the fact that the midfield set-up on Saturday should at least prevent Coutinho from finding acres of space in which to pull Leeds apart, as he did at Villa Park earlier in the season. Leeds drew that game 3-3, but had to put together a stirring comeback having been torn asunder by the Brazilian on the counter attack. Being caught shapeless in transition put Leeds in a compromising position and Coutinho, ably assisted by Ramsey in particular, took full advantage.

Only once did Leicester find it easy to play through the middle and that moment was the exception rather than the rule that has presented itself all too often this season.

The length of time Phillips has been out suggests a start on Thursday is unlikely, no matter how robust the Leeds lad has proven in the past and even if he has taken little time to get up to speed after previous injuries. Marsch appears to be exercising caution over the fitness level of his players and determined not to overload them - he held Bamford back at the King Power with a goal desperately needed.

A return would be an enormous boost - he made his name after all by shackling the opposition’s best attacking creators, he’s got the mobility and game reading to thrive in a team that presses in the way the Whites did on Saturday and has shown in an England shirt that he can play in a sitting pair or even operate farther forward in a box-to-box role – but, if this game comes too soon for Phillips, then Marsch must look elsewhere for a solution to the Coutinho problem.

Koch, although not hugely natural with the ball at his feet higher up the pitch, did very little wrong in his last outing. He adds presence and defensive discipline. Klich, for his part, was a disruptive nuisance, spoiling play for the opposition and showing in possession why he might find favour under Marsch. There are few better in the Leeds squad at operating fluidly in tight spaces, under pressure, and given the narrow way the Whites now set up and a potential jam-packed midfield on Thursday night, it would be easy to see why the Polish international might get the nod again. Marsch will need energy and legs to combat McGinn and co and Klich could give him that.

And then there's Forshaw, the man you can trust most to retain the ball and a player willing to crunch into tackles all around him. He too covers a huge amount of distance, but has less of an attacking profile than Klich. Those two together would give the new head coach bundles of energy, no little amount of defensive steel and composure in possession.

Should Diego Llorente be fit for a comeback at the heart of the defence, Marsch may also consider shifting Luke Ayling back to right-back and putting Stuart Dallas in the middle of the park. A different formation isn't to be ruled out, though, because Marsch is not wedded to just one system and it's possible he fights fire with fire and a three-man central midfield behind an attacking trio.

The midfield make up is not the only conundrum to solve when Steven Gerrard’s men arrive, but it’s an important one. Getting it right will be key if Marsch is to discover how it feels to secure a vital win at Elland Road.