LEEDS United boss Jesse Marsch is wary of “very lethal” Cherries, with the Whites manager believing Gary O’Neil has done a “great job of taking them out of a moment early in the season where they looked like they were in trouble”.

O’Neil’s charges travel to Elland Road this Saturday (kick-off 3pm) with a view to earning a first win in five league games. Leeds recently ended a winless streak of their own with a dramatic victory away at Anfield, a late 2-1 win their first in nine Premier League games.  

Despite Cherries’ recent results, Marsch believes that his side’s next opponents are “actually improving” under O’Neil.

The two sides are within breathing space of each other in the league table, with Cherries one point – and one position – above Leeds, in 14th, although the Yorkshire outfit do have a game in hand on their Dorset counterparts.

Previewing Cherries ahead of this weekend’s game, Marsch shared: “Bournemouth, in general, I know that they haven’t gotten a lot of results but if you look at their metrics, they’re actually improving as a team and I think they’re more and more in matches.

“We believe that they are very lethal in counter attacking situations and so they defend very hard, they defend sometimes a little bit deeper.

“They sometimes like to press a little bit higher but get into a deeper block and they’re very intensive in some of those defensive moments.

“And they’re very quick to get into the counter and it showed in the Tottenham match and in a lot of their matches lately.

“I think the manager’s done a great job of taking them out of a moment early in the season where they looked like they were in trouble, to making them stronger and making them clear on exactly what their play model is.”

Whilst victory against Liverpool slightly eased pressure surrounding Marsch’s future at Elland Road, defeat to Cherries would see the sharks circling once again.

Under-fire Marsch has noted Cherries’ flexibility in shape, with the Dorset club frequently switching between five and four at the back under O’Neil.

“Who they play and exactly how they play,” restarted the American.

“They have some variability, they played five in the back in the last game and defended five in the back, sometimes they build with five but defend more with four so we have had to prepare for a few different things.

“But we know that in the end, we have to know them but we have to be ready to perform at our best.

“That’s a big focus this week, knowing the opponent but making sure that we are ready to be at our best.”