Prutton thinks Southampton’s two regular-season victories against Leeds may offer them a psychological advantage over Leeds in the play-off final. The analyst has cautioned the Whites not to assume that the Saints will be as simple a foe as Norwich proved to be in their second-leg semifinal match. According to Prutton, via the Yorkshire Evening Post, “I think you’ve got to take into account those performances and the victories for Southampton so there is psychologically a little bit of an advantage.”
However, given that both sides are from the Premier League and have had a run at the top two this season, I believe that this is as even a playing field as you could hope for in a Championship play-off final. “Much more than just having a ‘favorite,’ both had to cope with the disappointment of not placing in the top two. “We know Leeds can win, so it needs to be business as usual again, just like it was in the second leg on Friday.
Furthermore, we are aware that Leeds may occasionally let us down, and this Sunday is definitely not the day for that. “I can see that if there’s a school of thought that says Leeds will advance if they perform like they did against Norwich on Thursday. However, they were aided by some terrible Norwich defense, and it appeared as though Norwich had ran out of ideas following the first leg. It takes a certain amount of work for a side to play so poorly as a whole, but Norwich certainly accomplished that, which gave Leeds the upper hand. It is true that you must defeat the squad in front of you, but that team wasn’t very good.
“It’s possible for Leeds to perform similarly against Southampton, but let’s face it—Southampton is a far superior team than Norwich.
An important play-off match for both managers David Wagner was fired as manager of Norwich in retaliation for their 4-0 demolition of Leeds. The Norfolk team will undoubtedly want to contend for promotion once more the following season, however it is unclear who will be in charge of them. In the meantime, Farke and Martin will now be getting their teams ready to battle for a Premier League spot at Wembley. This game might make or destroy the careers of both managers at their respective clubs because so much is riding on it.
For Leeds, Southampton will be a difficult test. This weekend’s match won’t be simple for either team, and the victor will need to put in a lot of effort to get promoted. Fitness may also be a crucial factor in the game, as both sides must handle roster concerns in the lead-up. It will be extremely tough to predict the winner, but Southampton might be the slight favorite given their two victories over Leeds during the regular season. Prior to kickoff, everyone will be thinking about the Saints’ 2-1 victory against the other team at Elland Road a few weeks ago.