Marcelo Bielsa on the attacking threat Aleksandar Mitrovic and Fulham pose to Leeds United

The Serbian has scored 23 league goals this season, taking his tally to 46 in 89 appearances in the top two divisions for Fulham.

How coach Bielsa prefers his strikers to make an all-round contribution has been a theme at Leeds United all season. Patrick Bamford saw off loanee Eddie Nketiah, who has scored three goals in six starts since returning to Arsenal, and now Jean-Kevin Augustin has been made to bide his time whilst he gets his fitness and all-round game to where the Argentinian coach demands.

But that does not make him blind to the contribution Mitrovic makes to an attacking Fulham line-up.

“He has a lot of ways to score,” said Bielsa of the 25-year-old, who has scored both times he has played against Leeds for Fulham. “He appears at the right moment, he has intuition, he has ability to finish the chances and he is able to score in different ways.”

Bamford has scored 13 goals this season, but Bielsa sees him as fundamental to their way of playing.

The Argentinian views the Cottagers as a very attack-minded side, despite having scored four fewer league goals than Leeds this season.

“The 11 players who usually play have attacking characteristic,” he explained. “Both full-backs, the central midfielders and the three attackers are creative players. That is not normal in our league. We must be prepared for every team and their different characteristics.”

With Fulham heading the pack of teams chasing the top two – at least before fourth-placed Brentford welcome West Bromwich Albion on Friday night – the importance of the game us undeniable. A Fulham win would give them huge encouragement for the run-in, but a defeat would be very demoralising.

But Bielsa argued all Leeds' remaining games are going to be high-pressure unless or until promotion is secured.

“The eight matches left are going to generate the same expectation until the situation is defined,” he said. “Every match is important.

“(But) this has a more valuable meaning because we play with the closest team behind us.”

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