These two Yorkshire sides have never met before, newly promoted Leeds United will host their eighth game against Harrogate Town in the FA Cup third round at Elland Road on Saturday.
Leeds have been used to coming up against local opponents in the shape of Bradford City and Huddersfield Town, but this time around it will be something new for everyone at Elland Road this coming weekend.
This should be an easy afternoon for the 1972 winners Leeds as the home side sits atop of the Championship, while the struggling Harrogate currently sit deep in the relegation places in League Two.
The Daniel Farke-tutored side has continued with eight matchsticks yet to be defeated – five of them produced victories – to fix themselves on the Championship summit in the past few weeks, only relinquishing that position after bagging just two points at Hull City last weekend.
Promotion matters will take a back seat for now however, with focus switching to cup affairs, and Leeds eyeing a third round exit for the third consecutive year.
While Leeds have gone out at this stage for five consecutive years between the 2017/ 2018 and 2021/2022, they have been drawn to the fifth round in two successive occasions, and thus have been given a relatively easy draw in the hope of even better performance this time.
Harrogate have in recent years climbed up the divisions and the FA Cup has seen them regularly make it to the proper stages this season they will not go to Leeds without confidence since Leeds has only managed a single victory in the last five ties against fourth-tier football in this tournament.
But the Whites remain unvanquished at home in the FA Cup since losing to Arsenal in the 2010/11 campaign, recording three victories and two draws here.
Additionally, the home team has advanced from four of their previous five FA Cup matches against other Yorkshire teams, the most recent of which was against Rotherham United in 2016.
This will just be Harrogate's second third-round match; their only prior third-round match ended in a 4-0 thumping at the hands of Luton Town in 2022.
Given that they haven't given up in the FA Cup this season, the Sulphurites may be able to keep things tighter at the back.
Before making a big deal out of defeating Gainsborough Trinity to advance thus far, they advanced through round one with an incredibly remarkable 1-0 victory over Wrexham.
That Luton result, however, comes a year after Blackpool also defeated them 4-0 and Bolton Wanderers thrashed them 5-1 last season. The visitors have endured some brutal losses in the league in recent years.
After getting back to winning ways last weekend, defeating Barrow 2-0 to move five points clear of the relegation zone in League Two and ahead of Swindon Town in 21st place, Simon Weaver's team will go into the match with confidence.
With just three points separating them from 15th place, Harrogate is certain that a few strong performances will put them far out of difficulty. As a result, they can put their concerns aside for the time being and enjoy this potentially fantastic cup match.
