Leeds United could be suited by change and the big Erling Haaland hope - David Prutton

Leeds spent 16 years yearning for games such as this and we have already seen how enjoyable they can be and how chastening they can be. Wednesday's home clash against Man City will obviously be extremely tough and Newcastle away on New Year's Eve will be an amazing game.

I have worked up there a lot since the takeover and it's a completely different place now and they play a brand of football that at this moment in time deserves to be in the top four. That will be another very, very tough game but I don't think you can look at these games as free hits and I don't think Leeds are small enough to think that.

If it was their first season back in the Premier League then it might be different but we have seen Leeds get something against Manchester City and Liverpool already so why not? Man City are coming back hungrier than ever and Newcastle are tasting the heights of the Premier League that they have not tasted for a very long time so it makes for two very tough games.

But if Leeds are a team that has aspirations of aiming higher than 17th then you absolutely have to go into these games with confidence. I just think they have got to be very, very careful because of how good these two are. Erling Haaland is clearly City's main danger man and if there is any scope for individual errors then they need to be ironed out before you see someone like him. He is phenomenal really and he has been a joy to watch.

If you were being tongue in cheek from a Leeds United point of view then you might say that because he is a Leeds fan he might go a bit easier on them! That remains to be seen! But as much as the talk about Pep Guardiola and his team has been very futuristic and forward thinking and reinventing football, what Erling Haaland does is wonderfully retro I think.

He doesn't go to ground, he is not fussed about winning fouls or messing around outside the box. But he finds himself in positions where the ball comes to him which is a gift and a skill that is worked on. He is powerful in the way that he runs and in the way that he physically engages opponents and it harks back to a way that centre forwards played 20 or 25 years ago when the game was a little bit more robust.

If I was watching from a Leeds fans' point of view then obviously you are sitting there wanting your team to win. But you also have the privilege to be looking at one of the best teams of the modern era that has got a striker that could be capable of conquering the domestic world.

It's a case of strap yourselves in and enjoy yourselves but also be careful! I watched Haaland on Thursday night as City beat Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and he has had a good month off from the competitive side of what football is. He will be absolutely chomping at the bit.

A lot of Leeds players will be in that position as well but I thought City put a big marker down on Thursday by beating Liverpool and knocking them out. They look fit and ready and raring to go. But there's always a chance. The way that Leeds finished off before the World Cup break gives them an air of positivity but it's not going to be straightforward.

Leeds conceded three goals in nine minutes in their final friendly against Monaco this week and it's a cautionary tale because of what we have seen before and what Leeds get out of this season will be based on a solid foundation. That's hopefully something that they are going to get because it's something that has been a real Achilles heel for them.

Leeds have looked good at times going forward but if you are susceptible defensively at times then it's going to cost you, especially in the Premier League. But there's no greater game to focus the minds than Manchester City.

Jesse Marsch has changed to a 4-3-3 for much of the mid season break friendlies and I think you have got to be adaptable. Jesse has been a big exponent of the 4-2-2-2 but that formation means you are susceptible down the wider parts of the pitch to teams that can spread the ball and make the pitch as big as possible which is what Man City will do. A 4-3-3 gives you a little bit more solidity in midfield.

Tyler Adams is suspended against City but a 4-3-3 with Tyler Adams in it sounds like a good base of a midfield for me and he will be a big miss against City in what will be one of the toughest games of the season. But such is life.

Personal wise, you can't be tied down to one formation but I think a 4-3-3 could suit Leeds. It's just a case of whether you end up with a lightweight front three or whether you have someone as the focal point there who can lead the line. There will have to be containment to the way that Leeds set up against City but that's not to say they can just sit in for 90 minutes. And to think that you can just pick City off would be utter madness.

City can pull apart the very best teams in the division and that's not being disrespectful to what Leeds are. But Leeds are a lower half/bottom third Premier League so let's not get carried away with what has happened in the past.

City are a team that are getting pushed on by Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and all the teams that are up there and the question of hunger for them is an easy one for Pep Guardiola to answer because he just keeps driving them on. He will look at the Leeds game as a tough proposition but it's also a chance for them to flex their muscles coming back from the break. But you can't sit in as a back ten with your goalie behind you for 95 minutes.

Maybe there is an element of being able to hit City on the counter attack with the pace that they have got but first and foremost it's about not giving them or affording them any chances. Jesse is obviously a high pressing coach and that's one of his fundamentals.

He'll adjust with the players that he has got but there can't be wholesale changes with the way that he approaches it because that's what Jesse had built his career on so far. We saw Leeds pressing under Marcelo Bielsa and it was stunning at times but it could also look very helter-skelter.

But Jesse has now had another one to work on his system and how he wants the team to play. Individual errors have often cost Leeds and the way to get rid of individual errors is to buy better players because the best players are paid the most money for reliability.

They are paid to be 7, 8 or 9 out of 10 most weekends and Leeds aren't in that position. They can't make wholesale changes to the back four. I think that within the makeup of defenders that are available there is a very good and combative back line but ironing out individual errors is a real genius in a manager. We will see if Jesse has managed to do that.