Leeds United man on the big change giving Whites confidence ahead of Manchester City clash

So far this season the Whites have beaten Chelsea and Liverpool and lost to Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, but should have come out of the latter two games with a point at least. Jesse Marsch's men were dominant in the second half of their 1-0 defeat by the Gunners at Elland Road, and went 3-2 up at Spurs before conceding two disappointing late goals.

Tyler Adams' 87th minute red card at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has opened up a window of opportunity for Forshaw, who appears likely to get the nod when Manchester City visit Leeds on December 28. Speaking to the YEP during the club's training camp in Spain, he hadn't yet had the nod but Forshaw was already thinking about his chances of playing in this game.

"Of course I've thought about that," he said. "I haven't had any conversations with Jesse yet but the most obvious 6s are me and Sam [Greenwood] as well. Sam's done brilliantly recently when he's come on in games. But no doubt I'll be fighting for my place, again."

The key to playing in the number 6 role for Marsch is what Forshaw calls 'positional discipline' - which solidifies the team. A fractured kneecap kept the midfielder out of last season's Elland Road meeting with Pep Guardiola's superstars, making his last encounter with them the 7-0 humiliation at the Etihad during Marcelo Bielsa's tenure.

Addressing that experience previously, Forshaw spoke of the need to pay Kevin De Bruyne more respect than Leeds did in their heavy defeat, by not going beyond the ball so much. This time when they clash, Leeds will be set up in Marsch's system, with two deep-lying midfielders and a more rigid structure, which has turned out to be at least problematic for elite sides this season, a fact that will buoy Forshaw and his team-mates.

"So far we've proved ourselves to be pretty good this season against the better teams in the league, we're really compact, positional discipline is something we pride ourselves on to make it difficult for the opposition," said Forshaw.

"I think the system at times can frustrate the better teams. We try to make teams play around us a little bit more, we're less open and we're ready for counter pressing, that's something that probably doesn't work as well for the bigger teams. We'll definitely go into it with confidence."