Reality bites for Leeds United as Daniel Farke feels unable to plan an FA Cup surprise for Chelsea

The reality of life in English football in 2024 means that idea quickly went out of the window.

Leeds v Chelsea is always a big deal, the latest episode in a rivalry which has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with history, starting in essence with the pitched battle at Wembley in April 1970 which took an unseasonably early FA Cup final to a first replay since 1912.

The Football Association may have been forced to hide its fifth round away in midweek – the broadcasters have played ball by sneaking coverage onto ITV4 – but the 5,366 fans in a sold-out away end will tell a different story.

Another element adds significance, with Leeds fretting over homophobic or discriminatory songs, chants, shouts or gestures by those travelling. The club are on a warning after a £150,000 fine for such behaviour against Brighton and Hove Albion in March 2023, two months after it was criminalised.

Not to trivialise it, but that is not the main issue for the Championship club right now, just as reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals is not.

Modern football is all about the Premier League, which is why playing one of its teams anywhere is an occasion, but also why Farke cannot rise to it as he would like.

Getting back to the land of milk and honey is his first, second and third priority and Saturday's 12.30pm trip to Huddersfield Town, Tuesday's visit of Stoke City and Friday's short journey to Sheffield Wednesday will have a huge effect on Leeds' chances of getting there, Wednesday's cup jaunt far less so.

Some dunderheaded social media posts by Terriers chairman Kevin Nagle and his American media man have even added aggro to the first of those dates.

It will not just shape Farke's selection, but even his tactics, he claims.

"Chelsea are a side with fantastic potential and we know we are the underdog in this game," he says.

"In the league we're on a great run with ambitions to finish in the top position so we can go into this game with nothing to lose.

Sign up to our new Sports Editor’s TeamTalk newsletter available this week

"Probably Chelsea will be there with their best possible starting line-up. We have to keep in mind we have three league games coming up so we have to take some smart decisions as well.

"We can't do anything special. Normally in such a game when you're the underdog I would like to prepare in a special way – to change the base formation, to make us a bit unpredictable.

"But due to our schedule we won't do anything away from our normal way of playing. I don't want to break our rhythm or play in a completely different way because it will also have an effect for the upcoming league games.

"We will stick to what we've done in the past, be ourselves in this game and try to be brave. We also have to defend really well, we know we need the best possible day to give us a chance to be successful but we will travel in this mood."

Of course it could be a bluff, but this is a man who had just insisted he does not play mind games.

Farke prepared the ground by casting doubt, in descending order of seriousness, on the availability of Georginio Rutter (hip), Crysencio Summerville (ankle), Patrick Bamford (calf and ankle) and Dan James (bruising). Sam Byram should be back, at least, for part of the game.

There is logic too, behind Farke's argument that Chelsea, in the bottom half of the Premier League after a hugely disappointing season will – or at least should – be throwing everything at the last cup competition they are involved in this season.

Sunday offered redemption at Wembley but instead they became the first team in English football to lose six successive domestic cup finals when Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk scored the only goal of the League Cup final in extra time. The word "bottlers" has been thrown around liberally since.

"I don't think it will help because Chelsea as a club and with their highly-talented players will always have the ambition to play in Europe and the quickest and easiest way for them is the FA Cup right now," argues Farke.

"I expect the opponent will be very focused and concentrated on this game because I think it's their best chance to play in Europe next season.

"For us it is also a big game because we would like to extend our cup run a bit more but we also have to keep in mind that there are also a few other important things at the moment which we have to focus on."

Maybe it is all one big con trick and Farke will line up all his big guns in some weird and whacky shape which wrong-foots Mauricio Pochettino. But it feels a lot like the sobering reality of English football in 2024.

Rest in peace, FA Cup romance.