Leeds United: Beren Cross tips Rasmus Kristensen to start over Luke Ayling in FA Cup

3 minute read 8/1/2023 | 10:26am

Journalist Beren Cross has claimed that Leeds United defender Rasmus Kristensen will start in the club’s next game.

What’s the latest?

On Sunday afternoon, the Whites will take on Championship outfit Cardiff City away from home in the third round of this year’s FA Cup.

Premier League managers often use cup competitions as an opportunity to mix things up, resting and rotating their starting lineups to afford different players fresh opportunities.

And it seems as though Jesse Marsch might be no exception to this. Indeed, Cross certainly seems to think some changes will be made to the team that last started in the 2-2 draw against West Ham United in the league.

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While writing an update for LeedsLive, Cross said: “Rasmus Kristensen looks nailed on to replace Luke Ayling at right-back in their recent hokey cokey.”

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Time to shine?

As Cross makes clear, Kristensen and Ayling have shared the minutes at right-back of late. The Dane started the first game back after the break for the World Cup, but had to settle for a role off the bench in the next game, before being an unused substitute in that most recent draw with the Hammers.

This has afforded Ayling the chance to prove his value to Marsch. Indeed, the 31-year-old had a slow start to the season due to injury but how now featured in the last seven league games, starting and going unbeaten in the past two.

In the Premier League for Leeds, the 25-year-old has the third-best average performance rating (via WhoScored) while Ayling is down in 18th out of 25, so it may not be long before the Dane comes back into the starting XI on a regular basis.

For now, though, Kristensen certainly looks set to return to the team for this cup match and will no doubt hope to impress in order to get his place back.

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