Marcelo Bielsa on Leeds United's love for Ben White and Brighton warning ahead of third battle with Graham Potter

MARCELO Bielsa says Leeds United will face a Brighton side blessed with tactical diversity and balance upon the Whites head coach's third clash against Seagulls boss Graham Potter.
ADORED: Former Whites loanee Ben White arrives for Leeds United's clash against Wigan Athletic at Elland Road back in February of last year. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.ADORED: Former Whites loanee Ben White arrives for Leeds United's clash against Wigan Athletic at Elland Road back in February of last year. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.
ADORED: Former Whites loanee Ben White arrives for Leeds United's clash against Wigan Athletic at Elland Road back in February of last year. Picture by Bruce Rollinson.

Leeds will return to Premier League action with Saturday afternoon's hosting of fourth-bottom Brighton (kick-off 3pm), six days after an FA Cup defeat that Bielsa says was the fifth-worst loss in the club's history.

Bielsa said United would look to ensure that last Sunday's 3-0 reverse at League Two side Crawley was not used in a destructive manner with the head coach hoping his Whites will learn from the experience of defeat to a side 62 places lower down the football pyramid.

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One week on, Leeds will now face a Brighton team sat five places and nine points below them in the Premier League table and only two points above the dropzone having also played two games more than third-bottom Fulham.

Bielsa, though, has highlighted the threats that the visiting Seagulls will pose as the Whites head coach prepares to take on 45-year-old Potter for the third time in his career.

The two managers also locked horns during the 2018-19 Championship campaign when Potter was in charge of Swansea City who drew 2-2 with the Whites in south Wales before falling to a 2-1 defeat at Elland Road.

"The two teams that he managed, Swansea and this team Brighton, they have things in common," said Bielsa.

"They have a lot of tactical diversity.

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"They treat the ball very well and they're a team who have good balance because they have good balance between attack and defence."

Saturday's contest will also see Leeds face last season's star loanee Ben White for the first time since his return back to Brighton.

Centre-back White played every minute of every league game as part of United's 2019-20 promotion campaign that saw Leeds go up as Championship champions.

United then tried to buy the defender permanently in the summer but Brighton continually stressed that the former loanee was not for sale and White then signed a new four-year deal with the club in September.

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"All of us here, we admire him as a player and we respect him and love him as a human being," said Bielsa of 23-year-old White.

"He was an excellent professional as well as a team-mate. I hope that his career allows him to grow because he deserves it."

White has started 17 of Brighton's 18 games in the top flight this season, playing the full duration of 14 of them and 1,492 minutes of football.

Asked what he had made of White's performances since stepping up to the Premier League, Bielsa said: "Ben White has shown that he is a Premier League player."

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