Shaka Hislop has predicted the winner of Sunday’s Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton, and says his chosen team will “only just” get the job done.
All eyes turn to Sunday at Wembley to find out who will join Leicester City and Ipswich Town in being promoted from the Championship to the Premier League this term, in what is set to be a close affair.
Leeds finished ahead of Southampton in the Championship table but The Saints beat Leeds home and away. Daniel Farke’s side produced their best performance of the season, arguably, to beat Norwich.
Southampton were clinical in the final third as they got the better of former Leeds coach Carlos Corberan his West Brom side, which included Alex Mowatt and Kyle Bartley on Friday evening in the second leg.
A Wembley tie then for Leeds and Southampton, two clubs with Premier League pedigree and probably deserve to be in the top tier having won 90 points and 87 points during the Championship season.
But there can only be one winner and 2006 FA Cup finalist Hislop picked who he thinks will come out on top next weekend, at the home of English football. Here is what he told ESPN FC:
Shaka Hislop predicts who wins final – Leeds or Southampton
It is a close match-up on paper, given Southampton beat Leeds home and away but Leeds finished ahead of Russell Martin’s side. Arguments can be made in favour of Leeds for both of those Saints victories.
A final-day defeat that saw the Leeds players already looking towards to the play-offs given the chances of automatic promotion were slim. A 3-1 loss earlier in the season when Farke got his line-up wrong.
Hislop watched Leeds on Thursday and feels The Whites have their “mojo” back: “Leeds pushed Leicester and Ipswich for a lot of this season and just fell away at the end. That was a little bit of a concern for me.
“But then in the second leg against Norwich, I thought they played wonderfully well, regained their mojo. I think Leeds are a better team than Southampton, but only just. They get the job done, but only just.”
Daniel Farke still had two reasons to moan despite Leeds win
A self-confessed perfectionist, Farke spoke after the 4-0 win over Norwich and admitted that while it was a superb display there were still two areas he felt Leeds could get better at ahead of the play-off final.
The Leeds manager says that the Elland Road atmosphere saw his players get a little bit over-excited in possession. The gaffer also thought Leeds could be more clinical in the final third against The Canaries.
We have to be more effective using our chances,” Farke said. “Also, I know in this stadium it’s not that easy, but sometimes we were a little over excited in possession. Overall it was a great night for us.”