Former Derby County defender Curtis Davies has shared his prediction for the Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Southampton.
After Leeds booked their passage to Wembley with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Norwich City on Thursday, Southampton then followed them last night by beating West Bromwich Albion 3-1.
Having finished third and fourth in the table respectively during the regular season, Leeds and Southampton were many pundits’ favourites to reach the final.
Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer were among those to predict as such, while OPTA’s supercomputer was also backing this to be the final two.
Though Leeds finished three points ahead in the regular season, Southampton were actually the only side to complete a league double over Daniel Farke‘s side, which will make for an enthralling encounter.
Former Derby defender Davies predicts Leeds vs Southampton
Davies was on punditry duty for Sky Sports alongside Neil Warnock and Francis Benali in Southampton’s win over West Brom, having played for the latter earlier in his career.
Warnock refused to commit either way when he was asked who he sees winning at Wembley, partly due to the fact he doesn’t want to upset any Leeds fans.
Benali, meanwhile, is a legend of the Saints having made over 300 appearances during a 16-year spell with the club, and is, of course, backing them to go all the way.
And Davies was then also asked to provide his prediction for next Sunday’s final, as he offered some balance to the studio by backing Leeds to get the job done.
He said: “Yeah, it’s going to be tough because of recent history and stuff like that. Southampton are a very good team, but I will go Leeds.”
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Patrick Bamford offers update on injury ahead of play-off final
There is now eight days to go until the two teams walk out at Wembley and Leeds will be hoping to have both Patrick Bamford and Sam Byram back.
Byram was a late injury omission from the squad in the second leg against Norwich, while Bamford has missed the last four and offered an update on the likelihood he will be fit.
He said: “So, the simple answer is no [on whether he knows where his injury is at]. It is touch and go, these 10 days, realistically if I want to be involved in the final, I will have to train with the team at some point next week.
“It’s hard to explain what it is, but it’s something to do with the patella tendon and where the bone attaches. It’s touch and go for the final.
“Realistically because it’s been three weeks since I last played, I need to train, with the final on Sunday, by Wednesday to get a few days training because otherwise it’s pointless me being there as I won’t be sharp anyway.”
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