A year on from Jermaine Beckford snatching a memorable victory at Old Trafford for Leeds United, they find themselves back in action against another one of the Premier League Giants when Simon Graysons men travel down to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal, a side who find themselves the nearest title contenders to the Manchester United side that the Whites beat at the same stage of the competition one year ago.
As the Elland Road faithful travel south for the capital the big question on many football fans lips is can Graysons young pretenders cause another shock exit for one of the worlds most explosive sides.
Minds may be cast back to the 1972 Final when Leeds beat Arsenal 1-0 to lift the trophy. Since then fortunes have changed for United as memories of the golden era seem a long time ago. Its almost 10 years since Leeds found themselves matched up against Valencia in the Champions League Semi-final but since then everybody connected with the club has been taken on a roller coaster ride, they have faced relegation from the top flight, play-off final misery, administration which confirmed relegation from the Championship, finding themselves at the foot of the third tier of English football after being struck with a 15 point deduction and finally more play-off heartbreak in League One.
Now Grayson has brought stability and with his side back in the Championship, Cup ties against Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and now Arsenal, allows them to test their Premier League credibility and give them a taste of what will hopefully be a regular fixture in the coming seasons.
Leeds will relish this fixture as it gives them a welcomed break from a very hectic Championship schedule, as they find themselves amongst the front runners in a competitive title race. The pressure will very much be on Arsenal as Leeds will arrive at the Emirates with the license to throw caution to the wind and play with freedom as they look to capture another Premier League scalp. Arsene Wenger will adopt his usual philosophy of putting his young guns on display as they aim to impress the manager in hope of a first team place.
Simon Graysons team selection is one for speculation, many rumours have come out and said that he will rest his stars and play a 'B Team' however in my opinion, rubbish speculation! I expect Grayson to play a side that he believes is capable of beating Arsenal but wouldn't be surprised to see a few changes made. One Leeds player who will be dying to play is loanee Sanchez Watt, he was granted permission to play this week in the Cup tie against his parent club Arsenal and tweeted "this will be the biggest game of my life if I play". Grayson has introduced Watt back to the bench in Leeds' last few games and when given the chance he grabbed it with both hands by impressing when coming on, this puts him in contention for a starting place in the Leeds side on Saturday.
A game of goals can be predicted as Leeds and Arsenal seem to mirror each other in their respective leagues. The two sides match up nicely as they both are the top scores in their leagues (Arsenal 44 goals 21 games, Leeds 46 goals 26 games) however both sides are often suspect to criminal defensive errors, Leeds despite being near the top of the table have the third worst defensive record in the Championship meanwhile Arsenal's defence is regarded the thorn in their title hopes. Although Arsenal are firm favourites Leeds fans will travel to North London with optimism, with fan favourite Luciano Becchio in blistering form bagging 13 goals so far for United this term, with the assistance of Robert Snodgrass, Max Gradel and stand in captain Jonny Howson Leeds are a force to be reckoned with going forward, and these are the men that the fans will be looking too for inspiration come Saturday.
The Emirates is the venue for what will be an explosive encounter as Leeds come to town, the Gunners will dread the consequences of a shock defeat whilst Leeds prepare themselves for what could be another historic FA Cup victory.
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