Leeds United are set to finish third in the Championship league after losing second position to Ipswich Town, and both Micah Richards and Alan Shearer have predicted who would win the play-offs.
Leeds missed out on the chance to go four points clear of Ipswich after losing 4-0 to QPR last Friday. Kieran McKenna’s team then had two games in hand, which they won and drew.
A 3-3 draw at Hull was followed by a 2-1 triumph at Coventry, leaving The Tractor Boys in second place. Leeds and Ipswich are separated by three points heading into the final weekend of the Championship season.
Leeds will meet fourth-placed Southampton at Elland Road in what might be a dress rehearsal for the playoff final. Daniel Farke’s team can finish second, but they will need to beat demoted Huddersfield to do so.
Leeds is set to finish second, and as things stand, the Whites will face Carlos Corberan’s West Brom in the play-off semis. Southampton and Norwich City would clash in the other semi-final.
Micah Richards and Alan Shearer discussed who will win the play-offs this season after both predicted Ipswich to finish second this weekend, with Shearer picking his former club Southampton.
But Richards told The Rest Is Football that he believes Leeds will win the play-offs at Wembley:
Richards and Shearer predict who wins the championship play-offs.
Gary Lineker posed the question, and Shearer, who came through Southampton’s academy before moving to Blackburn and Newcastle, replied: “Southampton for the play-offs. “I have to; they’re my old club.”
Richards then predicted that Leeds would win the play-offs: “I’m going to go Leeds. They’ll bring an army down in the playoffs. Ipswich go automatic; I’m going with Leeds in the play-offs.”
What Southampton manager Russell Martin has said about Leeds fans.
Saints manager Martin feels Leeds and Southampton fans are in comparable situations after both sides had time in the top two. He claims he was at last Friday’s defeat to QPR and felt a vibe from Whites supporters.
“I must face the disappointment and the expectations of this club [Southampton]. I was at the game [QPR against Leeds]. I believe their fans felt exactly similar to ours after the defeat to Stoke.”
It will be interesting to see what strategy Farke chooses. Does he rest players and accept that Leeds will make the playoffs? Does he go full strength and hope Huddersfield can beat Ipswich?
Momentum is important, and Farke is expected to go all out in order to carry a win into the play-offs and earn a mental advantage if they do meet Southampton at Wembley.
