Leeds United take on Southampton with the small chance of overtaking Ipswich Town into second place and Dom Matteo has shared what Daniel Farke’s side must do on Saturday afternoon.
The final Championship weekend of the season sees Leeds still have a glimmer of a chance to finish in second place. But it is out of the club’s hands, needing Huddersfield to stun Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich.
All Leeds can do is what is in front of them, beating fourth-placed Southampton in a game that sees The Whites and Russell Martin’s side do battle ahead of what could be a rehearsal for the play-off final.
As things stand, Leeds would face West Brom in the play-offs and Southampton would go up against Norwich. While it is important Leeds win in order to put pressure on, it is key for the mind games too.
If it is the play-offs for Leeds and they meet Southampton at Wembley on May 26, then there is no better preparation than having beaten the Saints just a few weeks beforehand at Elland Road on Saturday.
But Leeds legendMatteo still believes there is a chance, claiming if The Whites score an early first goal then it piles the pressure on Ipswich in the race to finish in second place come the full-time whistle.
Matteo tells Leeds United what to do against Southampton
It cannot be forgotten that when Leeds went to Southampton in the reverse fixture, Daniel Farke’s men were easily beaten 3-1. But it was a different Leeds team then, with Joe Rodon starting on the bench.
What may come as a crumb of comfort is that Ipswich needed a late equaliser to snatch a point against Huddersfield in their reverse fixture, scoring through on-loan Man United defender Brandon Williams.
“If we are to get an early goal then it puts Ipswich on the back foot slightly”, Matteo said on LUTV. “It is how we approach it. We have got to approach it with no fear and then we see what unfolds afterwards.
“We can only control certain things and that is out of our control what they do. We have to make sure that we get the three points and then see what happens afterwards,” Matteo continued on today’s match.
Injury update as Daniel Farke without three key Leeds players
Farke confirmed in his press conference on Thursday that Pascal Struijk, Dan James and Connor Roberts would all be missing against Southampton due to injury – which comes as a huge blow for the Whites.
But, there is still hope that Patrick Bamford is fit for the clash after going through a number of different treatments to try and heal the knock he suffered to his knee in the 4-3 win over Middlesbrough.
Farke has a number of decisions to make to his side and one of them could be including Glen Kamara, while Mateo Joseph must be close to making his first league start for the Yorkshire club.