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Joe Mewis

Leeds United squad revealed for Crawley Town trip as Marcelo Bielsa's defensive options boosted

Leeds United's 2020-21 FA Cup campaign kicks off this afternoon with a visit to League Two side Crawley Town.

John Yems' men are on a nine-match unbeaten run but sit 62 places below Marcelo Bielsa's side in the league system and will be huge underdogs against the Premier League side.

Leeds, however, will be well aware that have made it past the third round just four times in the last 18 years and have more than their fair share of FA Cup embarrassments in their recent history.

Bielsa is therefore likely to take the Red Devils' test very seriously and admitted on Friday that he would not be handing out any debuts to his starting XI.

The Leeds boss will be able to welcome back skipper Liam Cooper, while Diego Llorente is also fit again, although Bielsa admitted that the Spaniard's will be handled more cautiously in his return to the first-team set-up.

Robin Koch remains out, as do long-term injury absentees Gaetano Berardi and Adam Forshaw, while Tyler Roberts, who missed out against Tottenham last weekend remains 'unavailable', according to Bielsa.

Bielsa has previously used cup matches to give fringe and under-23s players minutes in the first-team, but with Mark Jackson's side back in action tomorrow following their Christmas break, we are unlikely to see too many new faces thrust into action at the Broadfield Stadium.

The likes of Jack Jenkins, Charlie Cresswell and Niall Huggins have all featured in first-team squads recently and are the most likely candidates for inclusion, while many fans have been clamouring for attacking duo Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood to feature.

As in the Premier League, Bielsa will be able to name nine players on the bench, so below is a look at the available players he has at his disposal this weekend.

Leeds United squad: Mesiler, Ayling, Cooper, Poveda, Bamford, Alioski, Casilla, Llorente, Dallas, Costa, Raphinha, Hernandez, Rodrigo, Struijk, Harrison, Phillips, Davis, Caprile, Cresswell, Klich, Shackleton, Jenkins, Casey, Huggins

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