Regis Le Bris issues Leeds United warning to his Sunderland AFC team | OneFootball

The Black Cats boss want his players to be on the front foot in tonight's hugely important clash with Leeds at Elland Road.

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris is looking to take the game to Leeds United in Monday night's Championship heavyweight clash at Elland Road.

Speaking via The Sunderland Echo, the Black Cats boss is hoping his side meet the challenge of Daniel Farke's Leeds side head-on this evening.

It's a game that could potentially be a watershed moment in the automatic promotion race this season, as should the Wearsiders be victorious, they would close the gap on their second place opponents to just four points.

On the flip side, should the Whites claim the three points in front of a packed out Elland Road crowd, Farke's men would pull 10 points clear of fourth-placed Sunderland, as well as seven points clear of third place Burnley.

"Can't afford to let them play" - Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris forebodes aggressive gameplan for Leeds United scrap

Sunderland come into tonight's game in fine goalscoring form, having scored two or more goals in each of their last four Championship outings.

In fact, only Leeds, Middlesbrough and Norwich have scored more goals in the second tier so far this season than the Black Cats ahead of their clash with the Whites this evening, and Le Bris appears set on sticking with a front-footed gameplan.

He said: "We have to focus on our game. We know their threat and how dangerous they can be – if we are naive, we can be punished. We have good qualities to play against these types of opponents – we can’t afford to let them play.

"If we don’t damage their defence, we will have many regrets in the end. They are a well-rounded team who are doing very well – it’s more a positive challenge than something we have to be afraid of.

"We have to keep our ideas," Le Bris added. "At the same time, we always have small variations in different moments.

"We know they are very aggressive (marking), probably man-for-man, and when we come up against a team like that, we don’t play in the same way as when we come up against a different formation. That is just a question of adaptation according to the problem you have."

Sunderland will need to be careful not to leave themselves exposed to deadly Leeds United attack by deploying front-footed tactic

Given the league positions of the two clubs, tonight's meeting at Elland Road may well hold more importance to Sunderland in regard to who needs the three points more.

A play-off spot looks all but secured for the Black Cats, but should they fail to triumph over Leeds, their chances of an automatic promotion spot could be all but over, especially if Farke's side take the win.

Therefore, it's no surprise to see Le Bris planning on being aggressive and taking the game to Leeds, but they will have to strike some kind of a balance, as he will be well aware of how dangerous the Whites are in attack.

The Black Cats have conceded two or more goals in three of their last four Championship outings, but thanks to their potent attack force, they avoided tasting defeat in any of those games.

However, Leeds United will be licking their lips looking at those recent results, as although their opponents have proven themselves to be a highly tough to beat side, they can take confidence that if their watertight defence can resist any Sunderland onslaught, then they can inflict hurt on the Wearsiders.

It has all the makings of a classic Championship night at Elland Road, with both sides appearing set on sticking to their guns and delivering a shootout, the outcome of which could send reverberations across the automatic promotion race.