Leeds vs Southampton prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2024-05-03 11:30.
[p]It all comes down to this for Leeds United, whose immediate return to the Premier League hinges on this game after they failed to capitalise on some fantastic opportunities to pull clear in the top two across the last five rounds (W1, D1, L3). That suspect run is bookended by a shockingly bad 4-0 defeat to lowly QPR, although boss Daniel Farke remained defiant in the face of adversity, stating following the defeat that his side haven’t given up yet. [/p]
[p]That sentiment may be in vain as Ipswich can now deny Leeds with just a draw at home against Huddersfield, but the hosts will at least hope to hold up their end of the bargain by rediscovering their potent attack after winning five of their last seven games here (D1, L1). Those two failures also saw Leeds draw a blank, and they now face the prospect of failing to score in three straight Championship home games for the first time since they were relegated to League One in 2006/07. [/p]
[p]Visiting Southampton could end up facing Leeds in the play-off final should their hosts fail to achieve promotion here, so this could be a valuable dress rehearsal for what is to come after the Saints dropped out of the automatic race with three straight defeats ahead of this. Since scoring first at Cardiff a few rounds ago, Southampton have conceded eight unanswered goals, something they need to sort out ahead of the play-offs.[/p]
[p]Saints boss Russell Martin has called this “another game to prepare for before the two biggest games of the season,” which will most likely be against Norwich or West Brom. Martin’s men can at least take confidence from their 3-1 victory in the reverse, although that remains their only league win against any of the three sides sitting above them (L4). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Leeds’ Crysencio Summerville scored two of his 19 league goals in their only victories across the last five rounds as he looks to hit 20 league goals in a season for the first time. One man who has done exactly that for Southampton this term is Adam Armstrong (G20), who found the net twice in the reverse, although only two of his last five scoring appearances ended in wins (D1, L2). [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Southampton have scored in 40 of their 45 league games, a joint Championship high. [/p]