All the hard work across the 2023/24 EFL Championship campaign comes down to this at Wembley, as Leeds United and Southampton meet with both in search of an immediate return to the Premier League. Often dubbed the “richest game in football”, the winners on Sunday are set to increase their revenue by over £135m over the course of the next few seasons no matter what happens.
Daniel Farke’s Leeds could have easily been promoted automatically, but a loss of form at the business end of the campaign preceded an eventually dominant 4-0 aggregate win over Norwich City in their play-off semi-final. While that stunning victory will boost confidence, the West Yorkshire outfit have some demons to exorcise as far as play-off finals go, as they enter this encounter having lost all three previous such matches.
Trying to extend Leeds’ losing record in these games are Southampton, who also won by a commanding 3-1 scoreline in their play-off semi-final against West Bromwich Albion. They may enter this contest with a psychological edge as the only side to secure a league double against Leeds this term, although they have no pedigree in this sphere in what is the Saints’ first-ever play-off final appearance.
Having two teams who were relegated the previous season contesting the play-off final is a rare treat and only the third time in history that it has happened in England’s second tier. There has been no shortage of clashes between these two sides though, with the 101st H2H set to be the most important one yet as Leeds have a greater win rate against Southampton than any other club they’ve played at least a century of matches against (LEE: W48, D22, L30).
Players to watch: Leeds striker Joël Piroe told the press that the team has “full belief” after he scored in that 4-0 rout of Norwich - a goal which meant that three of his last four strikes were the second of the game. Adam Armstrong will look to make a nuisance of himself for Southampton, having netted twice in their play-off semi-final and three times across both league H2Hs this season.
Hot stat: Ten of the last 11 Championship play-off finals have produced under 2.5 goals in 90 minutes.
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