Crawley Town v Leeds Utd Match Thread
Crawley Town v Leeds Utd
Sunday 10th January 12:30pm | Broadfield Stadium
3rd Round of the FA Cup
Leeds face a potential banana skin in the 3rd round of the FA Cup as the Whites travel down West Sussex for a Sunday lunchtime clash against Crawley Town
This is the first time that the Reds have reached the 3rd round since the 2012-13 season. Leeds on the other hand have been eliminated at this stage for the last three seasons, their worst run since 2006/07.
Kiko Casilla looks set to replace Meslier between the sticks with Leif Davis and Dallas operating as wing backs. Bielsa can choose two from Charlie Cresswell, Oliver Casey and Pascal Struijk!
Jamie Shackleton, Ian Poveda, Pablo Hernandez and Helder Costa are all predicted to receive game time, as is out of favour striker Tyler Roberts.
Cody Drameh, Jack Jenkins, Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood are all knocking on the door, wanting to play some part in proceedings.
Crawley manager John Yems has called for Leeds to donate their FA Cup prize money to his club.
The West Sussex side cannot fully capitalise on the financial benefits of facing Premier League opposition due to the current nationwide lockdown preventing fans from attending.
Winners of the televised tie at Broadfield Stadium are set to pocket £61,500 from the Football Association, while the losers will collect £20,500
“I just hope Leeds donate their money back to us, which would be a very good gesture, so we can start paying for a few things,” said the 61-year-old.
“You wouldn’t get as much as you would normally because of no crowd.
“But in the current climate, big clubs, it would be nice like they used to in the old days that some clubs might donate a little bit back to you. “But who knows?
“There are a lot of clubs that have got their backs to the wall – I’m not saying we have – but (my priority is to) make sure all the players are healthy and we’ve got a football club at the end of it all. “That’s what’s important to me.”