Dion Dublin has predicted who he thinks will win the Championship play-off final between Southampton and Leeds United on Sunday.
Leeds secured their place in the Wembley fixture with a 4-0 second leg win over Norwich City on Thursday night having drawn 0-0 in the first leg.
Southampton ensured it was they who would meet Leeds in the final by beating West Brom 3-1 24 hours later, having also drawn the first leg 0-0.
Now the two sides are preparing to face off for the second time in three weeks, with Russell Martin having guided the Saints to a 2-1 win over Leeds at Elland Road on the final day of the regular season.
Dion Dublin was working on the BBC’s Final Score show on Sunday and offered his view on which side will secure an instant return to the Premier League.
Dion Dublin predicts Southampton play-off triumph
You could argue that Southampton have the upper hand psychologically given their win over Daniel Farke’s side at the start of the month combined with the fact they also beat Leeds in September.
However, some will argue that anything that has come before goes out the window in the pressure cooker of a one-off game at Wembley to decide each team’s fate.
Dublin was asked about the fixture on Final Score on Sunday and predicted that Southampton would make it three wins from three against Leeds this season, as he said:
“I know Russ as well, and I like watching them play, and I think they do things in the right way and he’s a young manager coming in, so I’ll go – it’s difficult because Leeds are good – but I’m going to go Southampton.”
Southampton must keep Crysencio Summerville quiet
If Southampton are to be victorious on Sunday then a lot of that will come down to their ability to stop Crysencio Summerville from making an impact.
The Dutch winger was handled well in the league game this month, with Martin’s switch to a back three meaning Kyle Walker-Peters and Taylor Harwood-Bellis could double up on him at times.
The 22-year-old was on target against Norwich to score his 20th league goal of a campaign in which he has also provided nine assists and he is arguably Leeds’ most talented player.
However, for all his attacking ability Summerville is not a player who likes to do his defensive work and Southampton can exploit this with Walker-Peters and David Brooks likely likely to have a lot of joy down the Leeds left in an attacking sense.
The game could well be decided by who gets the better of the Leeds left in what will be a fascinating match-up.