Monk should give these 3 Leeds players a chance in the FA Cup

23 August 2016 - EFL Cup - 2nd Round - Luton Town v Leeds United - Garry Monk manager of Leeds United applauds after the win - Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Championship high-flyers Leeds United travel to giant-killers Sutton United in the fourth round of the FA Cup tomorrow (2pm kick-off).

Garry Monk’s men edged past League Two side Cambridge United in round three to reach the last 32, and they’ll go into Sunday’s clash as favourites to reach round five for the second year in succession.

However, the Whites know that they’ll have to be at their best to get past Paul Doswell’s Sutton, who got the better of League Two outfit AFC Wimbledon in the third round.

The National League side however haven’t been hugely consistent in the league in recent times, winning just one of their last four, but they go into tomorrow’s encounter unbeaten in four in all competitions.

Nonetheless, Monk’s Leeds will be confident of avoiding a huge upset given that they have won four of their five games in 2017, and rose to third in the Championship during the week courtesy of a 2-0 win over struggling Nottingham Forest.

These two met at the same stage of the FA Cup back in 1970, with Don Revie’s Leeds winning 6-0 at Sutton, and Monk will look for a similar result and performance tomorrow.

However, the Leeds boss may make a few changes to his starting line-up, so here are THREE players who deserve a chance against Sutton…

Ronaldo Vieira

18-year-old Ronaldo Vieira came on as a late substitute against Nottingham Forest in midweek, and could be in line for a recall at Sutton tomorrow.

The midfielder has broken into the Leeds first team this season, having only made his debut in May of last year, and has started 13 Championship matches thus far, although he didn’t appear in their third round victory over Cambridge a three weeks ago.

Nonetheless, a decent display against Derby on January 13 will give Monk something to think about, and should the Leeds boss want to rest a few ahead of their league match at Blackburn, Vieira is one that will likely come into the starting line-up.

Hadi Sacko

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside

Hadi Sacko wasn’t passed fit to feature against Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, yet he’s likely to return to the starting eleven for the tie against Sutton.

The 22-year-old was forced off at half-time in the win over Rotherham on January 2, and hasn’t featured for the Whites since.

However, given that he has appeared in 25 of Leeds’ 28 Championship matches this season, he’s clearly an important member of the squad at Elland Road, and Monk will want to give him some minutes on the pitch ahead of a busy few weeks of Championship football.

Souleymane Doukara

Photo: Simon Stacpoole / Offside

25-year-old striker Souleymane Doukara came off the bench to net Leeds’ second in their 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest in midweek, and will thus be pushing for a start against Sutton.

That was the Frenchman’s fifth goal of the season, which takes him to second place on the Whites’ top-scorers list behind talisman Chris Wood, who has netted 20 times this term.

Clearly, Doukara is an important forward for Monk and, given that he started the FA Cup win over Cambridge in the last round and has performed well in the Championship since, it’ll be a surprise if the 25-year-old doesn’t return to the starting eleven on Sunday.

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