Paul Merson predicts Sutton United vs Leeds United result; suggests Whites’ Championship ambitions may hurt them

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Leeds United travel to face one of the two remaining non-league teams left in the FA Cup.

Paul Merson has told Sky Sports that he expects that Leeds United’s automatic promotion hopes in the Championship will prevent Garry Monk’s men beating non-league Sutton United in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

The Whites go into this weekend’s contest as heavy favourites having been drawn against one of the two teams left in the competition that play outside the Football League.

Leeds beat Cambridge to reach the fourth round

However, with Leeds flying high in the Championship – their 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on Wednesday moved them up to third in the table, seven points off the top two – Merson has suggested that Monk will have one eye on their upcoming league games when selecting a team, which could open the door for the National League side, especially as the game will be played on their artificial surface.

“This tie embodies the FA Cup! Sutton play on a 3G pitch so that makes things even more interesting. Leeds rested a lot of players in round three at Cambridge and with Newcastle potentially catchable, they could rest again. I fancy Sutton to hold Leeds to a replay and book a trip to Elland Road,” he told Sky Sports when explaining why he expects a 1-1 draw.

While Leeds fans will not want to have to deal with Sunday’s game going down in folklore – which will surely happen if they lose – the club will also be willing to sacrifice a cup run if it means that their chances of promotion are enhanced.

Sutton beat Wimbledon to reach this stage

But with Monk seemingly instilling a philosophy in his squad of taking one game at a time without looking too far ahead, he will surely be encouraging his players that this game is as important as any due to the momentum it could help generate, and his team selection may reflect how important a win is.

And if they can cope with playing on the different surface, it will surely be incredibly difficult for Sutton to secure the result they need to go into the hat for the next round.