Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United travel to face League Two side Crawley Town, on Sunday (1.30pm).

The Whites enter the Emirates FA Cup at the third round stage and will be looking to progress to round four of the competition for the first time since 2017, when they defeated Cambridge United away from home. 

Crawley have already been victorious twice in the competition this season. They defeated Torquay in extra-time after an 11-goal thriller which they won 6-5, followed by a more routine but impressive victory away at League One side AFC Wimbledon. 

Crawley’s cup record has seen them reach the fifth round of the competition in their history, but they haven’t been beyond round three since 2011/12 when they lost to Stoke City in round five. 

Leeds were proud winners of the FA Cup in 1972, beating Arsenal in the final. Having not tasted a repeat of that success since, Bielsa’s side will be looking to progress as far as possible this time out. 

The two teams have never met in any competition, so there are no previous records to look at and remember. The distance between the two stadiums is just short of 250 miles. Crawley play at The People’s Pension Stadium, which has a capacity of just over 6,000. 

The winner of Sunday’s clash will be allocated ball number 19 when they go into the draw for the fourth round. It will be conducted on Monday evening at 7.10pm, live on BT Sport 1. The fifth round draw will also take place on the same evening. 

Manager/head coach

Crawley: John Yems

Leeds: Marcelo Bielsa

League position

Crawley: 6th (Sky Bet League Two)

Leeds: 12th (Premier League) 

Recent Form

Crawley: DWDWW

Leeds: WLWWL

Top scorer (all competitions)

Crawley: Max Watters (15)

Leeds: Patrick Bamford (10)

Head to head

Crawley: n/a

Draws: n/a

Leeds: n/a

Team news

Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed that Liam Cooper and Diego Llorente have both returned to fitness, following recent injury problems. The pairing are available to be selected for the match, but it waits to be seen whether they will be involved. Tyler Roberts will continue to be sidelined, after also missing the recent trip to Spurs. 

With the potential exception of top scorer Max Watters who has had a hamstring injury, Crawley have just about everyone in their squad to choose from. The Reds have recently added Josh Wright to their ranks, who could be set to feature alongside his famous brother, Mark. 

Officials

Referee - Peter Bankes

Assistant Referee 1 - Les Betts

Assistant Referee 2 - Neil Davies

Fourth Official - David Coote

The key battle

Tom Nichols vs Pascal Struijk

Nichols is the Reds’ leading scorer in the competition thus far, with three. The forward can boast a number of years of football league experience and has found the back of the net well during that time. With the potential absence of leading scorer Max Watters, Nichols will be looking to bring the firepower for his side and United will have to be aware of his threat. 

Struijk has been part of a Leeds side that has kept two clean sheets in their last three Premier League matches. Since occupying a spot in central defence in an injury-hit backline, the defensive midfielder turned defender has been impressive both with and without the ball. He will have to remain alert on Sunday afternoon against a side who are currently unbeaten in their last nine matches. 

Latest odds 

Crawley: 7/1

Draw: 18/5

Leeds: 4/11

How to watch

The game will be broadcast on BBC One from 1.15pm. Live commentary is available as always from LUTV.