Championship play-off final LIVE commentary: Leeds and Southampton set to do battle at Wembley – kick-off, team news and how to watch

Leeds United face Southampton at Wembley this weekend in the Championship play-off final and it’s live on talkSPORT.

Both teams were relegated from the Premier League last season, but only one can return to the top flight at the first time of asking.

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Dubbed the ‘richest in football’ due to the huge amount of money on offer for promotion to the Premier League, this fixture promises to be a classic.

Leeds finished the season third while Saints were fourth.

Both teams scored over 80 goals and were well on course for automatic promotion by the end of the year.

Leeds vs Southampton: The Curse of Leeds

Incredibly, Leeds have never been promoted through the play-offs.

This will be the fourth time they have reached an EFL play-off final, so will the curse finally end?

Well, Daniel Farke’s men saw off Norwich in the semi-finals, beating them 4-0 at home.

But that play-off record is undoubtedly dismal and you’d imagine many Leeds supporters will be nervous about heading to north London.

However, it has been a long time since they last lost in a play-off final (2007/08) and Farke’s side should have plenty of confidence despite losing both of their league games against Saints.

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• Southampton were the only side to do the league double against Leeds United this season, the second of those wins coming on the final day at Elland Road (2-1); The last team to lose both league meetings with a team in the regular campaign before beating the same opposition in the second tier play-off final was Fulham against Brentford in 2019-20.
• Leeds United and Southampton have met 100 times previously, with the Whites holding 48 wins to Saints’ 30 wins (D22); of the 19 opponents Leeds have played over 100 times, their win rate against Southampton is the highest (48%).
• This is the third second-tier play-off final between two teams relegated in the previous campaign, after Leicester City 2-1 Crystal Palace in 1995-96 and West Ham 2-1 Blackpool in 2011-12.
• Leeds United reached a play-off final for the fourth time, failing to win promotion on each of the last three occasions (1986–87, 2005–06, 2007–08); this is the most common play-off final in which any team has played without ever winning promotion through such a tie (level with Bristol City, Exeter City, Lincoln City and Shrewsbury Town)
• Southampton will be playing in their first play-off final in just their second play-off campaign, following a semi-final exit on penalties at Derby County in 2007. The Saints last won promotion to the Premier League in 2011-12 when they finished as runners-up.

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• Leeds United have lost their last two outings at Wembley Stadium, most recently in the 2008 League One play-off final against Doncaster Rovers (0-1), their only previous play-off match at the national stadium. The Whites’ last win at the venue came in the 1992 Community Shield against Liverpool, winning 4-3 with Eric Cantona scoring a hat-trick.
• Southampton have lost eight of their previous 10 matches at Wembley Stadium (W2), including each of their last five. Only Newcastle (9 between 1974 and 2023), Leicester City (6 between 1949 and 1993) and Brentford (6 between 1930 and 2020) have ever had a longer losing streak at the venue.
• Leeds United’s 4–0 win over Norwich City in the second leg of the play-off semi-finals was the biggest ever win by any team in a Championship play-off match (since 2004–05), as of the goalless draw. at Carrow Road; The last team to win promotion to the top flight via the play-offs without conceding a goal was Crystal Palace in 2013.
• Including the play-offs, Southampton have averaged the highest share of possession (66%) in England’s top four tiers this season, while only Manchester City (691 and 24) have had more passes and more streaks of more than 10 passes per game than the Saints. (663 and 22) in 2023-24.
• Leeds United have scored 98 goals in all competitions this season, their most since 2009-10 (103), when they won automatic promotion to the Championship under Simon Grayson. The only other Leeds manager to see his side hit 100+ goals in a full campaign is Don Revie (6 times).

Leeds vs Southampton: Squad News

Leeds will be without Patrick Bamford through injury.

Pascal Struijk will certainly not play a part, but Dan James is fit again.

Southampton are without regular goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu due to an Achilles problem.

Stuart Armstrong has suffered a serious thigh injury and will miss out.

Che Adams and Ross Stewart are now fit and will compete for a starting spot.

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• Southampton have won 29 games in all competitions this season, their most since their promotion-winning campaign in 2011-12 (30), while Saints have scored 99 goals this season, making it their last century of goals in the 2009-10 season (112). ).
• Leeds United boss Daniel Farke is aiming to become the third manager to win three Premier League promotions after Steve Bruce (4) and Neil Warnock (3) after his two title-winning seasons with Norwich City in 2018 -19 and 2020-21.
• Only Mansfield Town’s Davis Keillor-Dunn (264) has had more combined shots and chances created than Leeds United’s Crysencio Summerville in England’s top four tiers this season (253 – 133 shots, 120 chances created), while the Dutchman should score or assist this season. would be the first Leeds player to score over 30 goals in a league campaign (including play-offs) since Chris Wood in 2016-17 (20 goals, 9 assists so far).
• Adam Armstrong has scored 23 league goals this season (including the play-offs), the most by a Southampton player since Rickie Lambert in 2011-12 (27). The Englishman has scored four goals in his last three starts against Leeds United, including three goals in two Championship appearances against the Whites this season.
• Only two of Leeds United and Southampton’s current sides have previously scored at Wembley Stadium, with Ross Stewart scoring for Sunderland against Wycombe in the 2022 League One play-off final and Kyle Walker-Peters scoring for Tottenham against Rochdale in FA 2017 -18. Cup Fifth Round.

Leeds vs Southampton: What was said?

Saints forward Adam Armstrong has spoken about the upcoming play-off final.

He said: “It’s a trip to Wembley, it will be the first time, so I’m really excited about it. Let’s enjoy this moment.

“Obviously we’ve played Leeds twice this season and we’ve done well and we can only take confidence from that.

“The boys will recover in the next couple of days and prepare to go into a huge game – probably the biggest in football – and we have to build from these moments.

“I told the boys last week that these opportunities might not come again. The chance to play at Wembley is incredible and it will be even better if we can do it.”

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Leeds vs Southampton: date and how to watch

The 2023/24 Championship play-off final will take place on Sunday, May 26.

Kick-off at Wembley is scheduled for 3pm.

talkSPORT will have live coverage from North London, with Adrian Durham as your presenter.

Commentary will come from Sam Matterface, former West Ham striker Dean Ashton and Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill.

To connect to talkSPORT via the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.