Bournemouth manager makes surprise Leeds United claim ahead of crunch Premier League clash

Jesse Marsch’s men lifted themselves out of the bottom three with a dramatic win over Liverpool last weekend. The result put them one point behind the Cherries, who have played a game more, after they surrendered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Tottenham Hotspur in their latest outing.

The win over Liverpool eased the pressure on Marsch heading into Saturday’s contest. Only three points separate the sides between 12th and 18th in the table, putting bigger emphasis on Leeds to start consistently collecting points.

O’Neil feels that the Whites’ performances have been better than their current position suggests.

"I'm really surprised they are where they are in the league," admitted O'Neil ahead of Saturday’s meeting at Elland Road.

"I've looked and they come up really well on all the sort of numbers and stats and chances created. They have big energy, press really aggressively, probably the highest pressing team in the league so they have a real clear identity and a massive result at Anfield for them in the last game.

"It'll be a big test going to Elland Road, it's always a tough place to go, especially the way they play at the moment so front foot and so aggressive. It'll be a good test for us. What I've seen of Leeds, they press really high. They want to win the ball back high up the pitch.

"They've real pace in their team, especially in transition, so when they do win the ball back, they're a big threat. In those games they were unlucky not to win in my opinion. They performed well in all of those.”

O’Neil insists that despite poor recent results his squad remain “absolutely fine” ahead of their meeting with Leeds at the weekend. The defeat against Spurs meant Bournemouth were handed a third successive loss in the Premier League and they are now just two points above the relegation zone in 14th ahead of the trip to Elland Road.

Despite not picking up any points since a 2-2 draw at Fulham on October 15, O’Neil believes his side have still put in competitive performances.

He said: "The group is absolutely fine. The fact that three losses have come on the trot doesn’t affect what we do; we’ve played nine Premier League games [under O’Neil] and been competitive in all of them.

“We’ve lost the last three, but the performances have been what I expect from the lads over the whole nine games. We have a clear view on where we are and what we’re trying to achieve and sometimes at this level, losses are going to come in batches. Of course, we want to make sure we get something from the weekend.”