Looking to cause an early upset in this competition, Sutton United of the National League will welcome League One Birmingham City to Gander Green Lane for a first-round clash in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.
The U's are battling away in the fifth tier during the 2024-25 campaign, whilst Blues are threatening to run away from the chasing pack in the third tier.
Match preview
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Following a three-year stint in League Two between 2021 and 2024, Sutton United suffered relegation back to the National League during the 2023-24 campaign, finishing 23rd in the fourth-tier standings, three points behind Colchester United in the safety of 22nd.
Since returning to non-league football, the U's have endured a mixed run of form, winning six and losing six of their 16 National League fixtures, whilst sharing the spoils with their opponents on four occasions.
As a result, Sutton are currently occupying 12th place in the National League table after 16 matches of the schedule, three points behind Yeovil in the lowest of the playoff spots.
The U's had to defeat seventh-tier opposition in the final round of qualifying to reach the first-round proper, with goals from Matt Rush and Josh Coley helping Sunday's hosts to a 3-1 win at Chertsey Town in Surrey.
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Back in the first round of the FA Cup for the first time in three decades, Birmingham City come into this weekend's trip to Gander Green Lane in sensational form, with the visitors unbeaten in five matches across League One and the EFL Trophy, a spell which included an emphatic success over Fulham Under-21s on Tuesday night.
An exceptional brace from Japanese winger Ayumu Yokoyama was the highlight for Blues last time out, with Chris Davies's troops putting seven goals past the helpless Cottagers in front of a passionate crowd in attendance at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.
Focusing on League One matters, Birmingham are currently sitting pretty at the summit of the third-tier standings, three points ahead of second-placed Wycombe Wanderers and four points ahead of Wrexham in third.
Blues will need to successfully navigate four rounds of the FA Cup to better their progression in this competition from last term, when Tony Mowbray's side were beat 3-0 at the home of Leicester City after advancing past Hull City in the third round.
Team News
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Scoring five goals in 16 National League appearances so far for Sutton this season, Will Davies will be looking to provide a magical moment in attack for the U's this weekend.
After keeping a clean sheet during the fifth-tier success over Braintree Town last Saturday, the hosts should stick with a centre-back pairing of Alex Kirk and Tyler French.
With Bailey Peacock-Farrell starting in between the sticks versus Fulham's youngsters earlier in the week, Ryan Allsopp should return to the goalkeeper position for Birmingham in Surrey.
After enjoying a rest during the drubbing of the Cottagers, midfield duo Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-ho are set to run the show for Blues this weekend.
The visitors have a number of first-team stars back in training following injuries, including captain Krystian Bielik (ankle) and fellow defender Lee Buchanan (calf).
Sutton United possible starting lineup:
Sims; Coley, French, Kirk, Waller; Odelusi, Vaz, Sivi, Nadesan, De Silva; Davies
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Allsopp; Laird, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane; Paik, Iwata, Willumsson, Anderson, May; Stansfield
We say: Sutton United 0-2 Birmingham City
Despite the gulf in class between the two sides, Sutton are likely to make the contest a challenging one for League One leaders Birmingham.
Blues will be able to control the ball on the artificial surface at Gander Green Lane and should earn safe passage into the second round if they can avoid a full-blown battle.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
