This Sunday, Leeds United and Southampton take to the Wembley turf for the richest game in English football, the Championship play-off final.
As the tension builds ahead of the season-defining encounter, Jake Coburn sat down with former Leeds United player Lee Sharpe, courtesy of William Hill, this week to discuss how he perceives the final will go.
Both sides are looking to secure top-flight promotion at the first time of asking, following relegation twelve months ago, and will feel as though they have a sense of belonging in the Premier League. Interestingly, despite finishing below Sunday’s opponents in the regular season, it was Russell Martin’s Southampton that was victorious in both of the head-to-head fixtures, with a 2-1 win at Elland Road on the final day following a 3-1 scoreline on their favour at St Mary’s in September.
But in an exclusive interview this week with The Real EFL, former United player Sharpe was confident in predicting his score for the eagerly anticipated fixture. He showed complete confidence in Daniel Farke’s side’s ability to get promoted after agonisingly missing out on an automatic spot.
“I am going 3-1 Leeds,” said Sharpe, who made 30 Premier League starts for the Whites in a three-year spell. “I think it will be 2-1 with Southampton chasing a late goal, and Leeds hit on the counter to seal it about three minutes before the end.”
Whilst Leeds go into this as slight favourites after reaching 90 points in the regular season, it is important to highlight that their defensive record across the campaign has been far superior to The Saints’. Russell Martin’s outfit conceded 63 goals across the 46-game period, with an average of 1.4 goals conceded per match, a record that over half of the other teams in the league bettered.
United conceded 0.9 goals per game on average, sharing the best record in that field in the league with champions Leicester City, so we will be hoping that they can exploit Southampton’s potential vulnerability at the back to create key chances to score the crucial goals that would take them back to the top flight.
When asked about who could have a positive impact on the match, there is no surprise as to who it was that Sharpe picked out as the key man to look out for:
“Summerville has been a sensation this year,” he added. “When you are in tight games like that, obviously, you need to keep clean sheets, but it is usually a bit of attacking creativity that wins the game for you, and I think it will come down to a bit of magic on the pitch.”
Having won the Sky Bet Championship Player Of The Season award, it is hard to look beyond the Dutchman as Leeds’ key man on Sunday, having returned an impressive 21 goals this season, accompanied by 10 assists. You get the feeling that with transfer rumours already circulating, there is a concrete chance that regardless of the result, Leeds will do very well to keep hold of him next season. If this is his last game, there is no better place to sign off than on the iconic Wembley stage.
As the huge day approaches, let us know in the comments what you think the score will be and who to look out for. Also, let us know if you agree with former Leeds United player Lee Sharpe!
