LEEDS United need to sharpen up their act at both ends of the pitch if they are to put a dent in Chelsea’s Champions League aspirations on Saturday lunchtime.

Once again the Whites put together some eye-catching football in the 2-0 defeat at West Ham on Monday night only to self-destruct in both penalty areas.

Chelsea, unbeaten in the 11 games since Thomas Tuchel took charge, are expected to provide a stiffer test at Elland Road than the Hammers, who cashed in on Leeds’ mistakes.

Although Leeds dominated the majority of the match they were wasteful in front of goal and, for 30 minutes in the first half, ragged in defence.

West Ham boss David Moyes acknowledged that his side had not played particularly well in winning to keep their top-four hopes alive. He said: “We were resilient. We didn’t play well tonight but I don’t think Leeds help you play well - you have got to earn it.”

Leeds coach Marcelo Bielsa said: “If you look at the totality of the game we deserved something from it.”

His side need to be switched on for the full 90 minutes against Chelsea, who boast one of the most expensive and talented squads in the Premier League. The Blues emphasised their quality with a comprehensive 2-0 victory against Everton at Stamford Bridge just before Leeds took to the field across the capital at the London Stadium.

Leeds made an impressive start against the Hammers, having VAR ruling out two goals in the opening eight minutes. Tyler Roberts’ finish was ruled out for offside by the tightest of margins against Helder Costa, and Raphinha ran the ball out of play before crossing to Patrick Bamford who found the net.

Gradually West Ham woke up and runners from midfield started to get at the visitors’ backline. On 21 minutes Jesse Lingard worked his way into the box and Luke Ayling’s lazy challenge drew a penalty. Lingard’s weak effort from the spot was saved by Illan Meslier but the former Manchester United man followed up to knock the ball home.

The goal energised West Ham and deflated Leeds, who were chasing shadows for the remainder of the half. Seven minutes after the opener West Ham, top Premier League scorers from set pieces, made it 2-0 against the side that concedes more than any other from set plays.

There was an inevitability about the goal, Aaron Cresswell’s corner headed in at the far post by an unmarked Craig Dawson, who almost grabbed a third on the cusp of half-time with an effort that grazed a post.

Bielsa reshuffled his pack at the interval by taking off Costa and Mateusz Klich but his side blew a great opportunity to pull a goal back early after the restart when Patrick Bamford collected Diego Llorente’s fine pass but curled a good opportunity wide.

That was the theme of the second half as Leeds missed a string of chances while West Ham's sole response was a thumping volley against the bar by Pablo Fornals. Raphinha was Leeds’ biggest threat, drawing two fine saves from Lukasz Fabianski and teeing up a great chance which Bamford blazed over. When Dawson cleared a scuffed effort by Rodrigo off the line, the visitors knew it was not going to be their night.

Among the positives for Leeds were the return from injury of Kalvin Phillips and Rodrigo.

Although Leeds have lost four of their last five games, Bielsa is unlikely to tinker with the team to face Chelsea too much. Both Pablo Hernandez and Pascal Struijk missed out at West Ham because of knocks but could be back in squad contention.

Klich, who has rarely missed a game under Bielsa, looked short of energy, but is expected to retain his place in midfield. Costa and his replacement, Jack Harrison, made little impact again which could possibly tempt Bielsa to start with Ian Poveda.