Beren Cross, Leeds United writer for The Athletic, has explained how manager Daniel Farke is likely to set up his side for Sunday’s Premier League game against Brentford, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports (4.30pm kick-off GMT).

Cross believes that Farke’s decision to switch from 4-3-3 to 5-3-2 has been the catalyst for Leeds’ impressive performances against Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool in recent weeks.

Leeds are 16th in the Premier League having taken 15 points from as many matches. What have you made of their season so far?

There was a turning point, you could argue, in the Burnley game on 18 October.

There were seven games before they went to Turf Moor, and in those seven games, Leeds picked up eight points which, for a newly promoted team, is pretty much what you need.

Maybe they would have liked an extra point or two here and there, but the performances actually suggested it should have been better. They completely dominated Bournemouth at home, for example.

Tottenham - who were flying high at that point - came to Elland Road and did win, but Leeds were good value for a draw there, if not a win.

They were a minute away from getting a 0-0 draw away at a very established Premier League team in Fulham until a freak own goal.

The points were okay, but the feeling was even stronger because of the performances; they had eight points, but most of us thought they should have been on 11 or 12, which is a very, very good start for a newly promoted side.

Then, as I mentioned, they went to Burnley and if anybody had not watched the game and they looked just at the stats, they would say, ‘How on Earth have Leeds not won that?’

They absolutely battered Burnley in every statistic going. But strangely, if you had been at the game, it felt like one of those afternoons where Leeds could play for three or four hours and they would not have scored, so it did feel like a bit of a blow.

If you accept you are going to lose to some of the big boys, that means you do have to beat the teams around you. They did then beat West Ham, but they were in a very, very bad place and it was not a particularly convincing win.

That led into what became two miserable away games at Brighton and Nottingham Forest, where they lost by a combined score of 6-1.

Away games are not easy in the Premier League, especially against two pretty solid Premier League sides, but the manner of the defeats felt quite worrying. There was very little fight there, there was very little tactical impact made by Leeds, and that really began to turn the pressure up on Daniel Farke.

They improved at home to Villa and lost that a bit more narrowly but, crucially, lost again. Then they went away to Manchester City on 29 November. That started as expected and there was a great fear that might be the beginning of the end for Farke and Leeds might have made a change before coming to Brentford.

But then Farke flipped to 5-3-2 at City at half-time and it just clicked. I know football is more complex than just changing a base formation, but it really did feel like it clicked and, talking in basic terms, it just seemed to make everybody better.

Unfortunately, they lost the game, but they did win the second half 2-1 and, crucially, they took that formation into the Chelsea and Liverpool games, which they won 3-1 and drew 3-3, respectively. It has just given everybody a bit of a boost.

What do Leeds need to do in January in order to help their cause?

I think the switch in formation makes this interesting. Prior to the change, they were playing in a 4-3-3 and maybe their needs in that formation are different to what they might need in a 5-3-2.

All fans want their teams to strengthen all the time, but with the growing anxiety, there was a little bit more of a pressing need for reinforcements in January, so maybe an extra central midfielder.

If they are going to play the 5-3-2 with the three central midfielders, what they have got is good, in terms of quality, but they have just proved a little bit brittle at times, in terms of injuries.

If you are going to play with this system, you are going to need four, five, six midfielders that can be called upon at any moment, when injuries do strike.

Maybe an extra wing-back, too. The trouble with this system is it does put a lot of load on the wing-backs. Leeds’ first-choice full-backs are excellent in Jayden Bogle and Gabriel Gudmundsson, and I think the back-ups are fine, but maybe more as full-backs than wing-backs

Maybe they do need someone that suits a 4-3-3 so that they can pivot to that, if needed. You could pick any position and make a call for it, but if I was to stick my neck out, I would say maybe an extra creative no.8 or no.10 that could play in that midfield three.

Which player should Brentford be keeping an eye out for on Sunday?

I will say Bogle. Even as full-backs, with a back four, Gudmundsson and Bogle both stand out as the best players in the team.

I think this new system suits them even better and it has really unleashed them to get up and down the pitch; they are very solid at defending, but they are also excellent getting forward and Bogle, I think, maybe just about edges out Gudmundsson in that sense.

Bogle will be critical to how Leeds do at Brentford, both in defence and attack.

What should Keith Andrews’ side expect in terms of shape and style?

Barring something bizarre happening, I would say it will be the 5-3-2 that I have mentioned, especially away from home.

Brentford fans are quite familiar with that, given what Thomas Frank used to do at times. He was not a stranger to a back five when the match called for it.

I think, going away to Brentford, a 5-3-2 would certainly suit that, especially with Joe Rodon, Jaka Bijol and Pascal Struijk as the three centre-backs, and I think they will probably quite enjoy the battle with Igor Thiago, assuming he plays.

There will be the two wing-backs and three in the middle with Ethan Ampadu, who will generally be a bit more of a sitter, and depending on who is fit, I think it will most likely be Anton Stach and Ao Tanaka either side.

Stach and Tanaka will be the players that have a bit more licence to go and hunt for the ball and step out of that compact shape, if necessary.

Then there are the two up top in Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who were, arguably, recruited as sort of back-ups for each other and sort of to play for one role.

But they have found their way into this front two, and it works really well, even as sort of two big men, rather than big man, little man. They have dovetailed quite nicely in the very limited time we have seen them together.

It may well be different at Brentford. Farke may well want to be a bit more progressive, given it is Brentford away rather than Chelsea or Liverpool.

I cannot quite predict it, but maybe it will not be as deep or as negative as people might have thought they would be in the Chelsea game.

What’s your score prediction?

Brentford are doing very, very well and probably surpassing some people's expectations this season, given the change in the summer.

They are very good at home, as Leeds know. I will sit on the fence and probably just say 1-1.

Leeds really have impressed me recently and I just hope that can bridge any gaps that there might be to Brentford on their home turf.