Leeds United begin their 2026 Emirates FA Cup campaign on Sunday afternoon, as they travel to the East Midlands to face Sky Bet Championship side Derby County in a Third Round fixture.
The tie comes four days after Leeds suffered a cruel loss to Champions League side Newcastle United 4-3, deep into injury time. Prior to that late defeat, the Whites were seven games unbeaten with wins over Chelsea and Crystal Palace and a pair of draws against Liverpool in that impressive run.
Last season, Leeds won their Third Round fixture against Harrogate Town 1-0 thanks to a Largie Ramazani goal before bowing out in the following round against Millwall.
United have an illustrious history in the prestigious competition, having won the centenary edition of the tournament thanks to Allan Clarke’s famous winner against Arsenal in the 1972 final.
Derby County also have pedigree in the FA Cup, having reached the finals four times in its early decades, including in 1946 when they defeated Charlton Athletic 4-1 to lift the trophy, but the Rams have only advanced past the Third Round once in the past five years.
On the back of a strong run of form in the Premier League, Leeds face John Eustace’s men who sit 12th in the Championship after 26 games.
After a poor start to the season, where they took just 8 points from their first 10 games, the Rams embarked on a good run in November, winning four of their six games in the month. But as the weather has cooled, so too have Derby, who have averaged just over a point per game since the start of December.
At Pride Park, their form has been inconsistent and County lost last time out at home to Wrexham 2-1 despite a first-half effort from Chile international Ben Brereton Díaz.
Leeds and Derby have quite a history, with the Rams United’s fourth most-faced opponent ever, after only Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton. In 115 matches, Leeds have won 54 and lost just 26. The Whites have emerged victorious in the last four of the sides’ six FA Cup matches, though the two have not been drawn together in the competition since 1996.
Last season, Daniel Farke’s team did the double over the Rams. United won 2-0 at Elland Road thanks to goals from Joe Rodon and Max Wöber and took the reverse fixture 1-0 after Brenden Aaronson slotted home to finish off a beautiful team move.
Action from Pride Park gets underway at 12pm.
We’ve met before:
Team news:
Ahead of the encounter, Farke expects to have the same group of players available from the Newcastle clash. There are slight question marks on Sam Byram (back) whilst the German indicated he wouldn’t take any risks with players returning from injury like Jayden Bogle. Karl Darlow will start in goal and it is possible a number of Under-21s players may travel with the squad.
How to follow:
Monthly audio subscribers around the world can listen to every minute of Sunday’s fixture LIVE on LUTV. Bryn Law will be joined by Andy Couzens on commentary. Pre-match build up begins at 11:30am with Matt Kilgallon and Simon Grayson in the studio! The match has also been selected for television coverage in the UK by TNT Sports.
Important supporter information:
Both Leeds United and Derby County players will wear black armbands during the match to pay tribute to former player Terry Yorath who sadly passed away earlier this week. More information on the planned tributes to a true club legend can be found HERE.
Leeds United will also be helping to promote the Wings for Life World Run, which raises money for spinal cord injury research, with a special kit change for this fixture. This will see the logo proudly displayed on the back of first-team shirts worn in the match.
Parking within walking distance to the stadium can be purchased HERE for £10.
Discriminatory language or chanting, including tragedy chanting, is not acceptable, and you could be breaking the law. The club condemns this behaviour and has a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination abuse of all kinds.
Tough measures and sanctions are in place across all English football leagues to tackle dangerous and illegal behaviours within football grounds, and this involves but is not limited to, discriminatory behaviour, tragedy chanting, fans entering the pitch, the use of pyros and throwing objects.
More supporter information can be found HERE.
What has Daniel Farke said ahead of the match?
League position:
Leeds: 16th (Premier League)
Derby: 12th (Championship)
Top scorer:
Leeds: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (9)
Derby: Carlton Morris (10)
Officials:
Referee - Anthony Taylor
Assistant Referees - Adam Nunn & Blake Antrobus
Fourth Official - Stuart Attwell
