The English Championship season is a long and gruelling campaign and now it comes down to just one match, with the winner earning a place in the Premier League.
The playoff final between Leeds United and Southampton will be played on the 26th of May at Wembley Stadium. Leeds United finished 3rd in the Championship on 90 points and Southampton finished in 4th place on 87 points.
⏪ 𝗥𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱: 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗻 pic.twitter.com/jcXx4sb3pF— Leeds United (@LUFC) May 22, 2024
⏪ 𝗥𝗲𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱: 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗼𝗻 pic.twitter.com/jcXx4sb3pF
Leeds United come into the playoff final on the back of a convincing 4-0 home win over Norwich City in the semi-final.
It took Leeds United just 7 minutes to open the scoring and they raced into a 3-0 lead before halftime. Into the second half and Leeds United put the icing on the cake with their fourth goal.
The victory over Norwich City was the first win in 4 matches for Leeds United in the Championship. They lost 2 of those 4 fixtures, with the defeats coming against Queens Park Rangers away and Southampton at home. Leeds United were also held to a 0-0 draw at Norwich City in the first leg of the playoff semi-final.
Statistics show Leeds United have been struggling to win recent games and they have recorded only 2 victories from their last 8 Championship matches.
There have been plenty of goals in matches involving Leeds United and they have seen over 2.5 goals in 4 of their last 5 games.
Southampton travel to Wembley Stadium having beat West Bromwich Albion 3-1 at home in the second leg of the playoff semi-final. With the score 0-0 at halftime, The Saints took the lead in the 49th minute and that meant WBA had to attack.
Southampton took full advantage and scored their second goal in the 78th minute and ensured their place in the final with a third strike 8 minutes later. WBA scored a consolation goal in added time.
The win over WBA means Southampton are undefeated in their 3 most recent Championship fixtures. There was a good 2-1 win at Leeds United on the final day of the regular league season and a 0-0 draw at WBA in the first leg of the playoff semi-final.
Trends show Southampton have won only 2 of their last 6 Championship games. They have been struggling to keep clean sheets and Southampton have conceded at least 1 goal in 5 of their last 6 matches in the Championship.
Team news and Leeds United are without the injured duo of Patrick Bamford and Pascal Struijk.
Southampton make the trip to London with Stuart Armstrong, Gavin Bazunu, and Juan Larios in the treatment room. Striker, Che Adams, should be fit to return to the team having missed the semi-final.
Making predictions for the Championship playoff final is never easy because the occasion is like nothing else in football. If we use the Championship table as a guide, Leeds United have been narrowly the better team this season and that is how it could play out in this match.
We predict Leeds United to score first and with Southampton having to press for an equaliser, Daniel Farke’s team could score their second goal to seal the victory and a place in the Premier League.