'Very nice': Roberto De Zerbi on Leeds United, his Marcelo Bielsa influence and simple snow plan

Former Sassuolo and Shakhtar Donetsk boss De Zerbi replaced the outgoing Graham Potter in the Brighton hotseat last September and his 23rd game in charge of the high-flying Seagulls presents a first trip to Leeds United's famous home on Saturday afternoon.

Aware of the club's rich history, Brighton’s Italian boss is relishing stepping out at Elland Road, revealing that he watched many Leeds games under one of his favourite coaches in Bielsa and unflustered about the prospect of potentially treacherous conditions.

"I'm looking forward to playing at their stadium because I know the history of Leeds," revealed De Zerbi at his pre-match press conference. "One of my favourite coaches is Bielsa and I watched a lot of games when he was working in Leeds.

"But if we want to continue in our dreams we have to win tomorrow. They are aggressive. I think they are still aggressive like the Bielsa period. But I don’t know if it’s similar or not. They changed the coach three games ago but we respect Leeds and we know to win the game tomorrow we have to do our best."

Brighton sit eighth in the Premier League table but the Seagulls have three games in hand on fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur who are only seven points ahead of them. Asked if his side can catch them, De Zerbi reasoned: "We hope. We have a dream and I think we know very well we can write the new history of the club and for us this is a very important and very nice challenge. We know it will be very difficult, it's very difficult the game in Leeds. We know what we can expect but we know in the same way we are able to win. We have the quality to win."

Brighton and De Zerbi could also expect snow given the forecast, but that’s of no concern to the relaxed 43-year-old Seagulls coach.

"We will play with yellow ball, no problem," he quipped. "Not a problem. The problem is because Leeds is a good team, hot stadium. It's not a problem with the weather."