Don Goodman makes promotion prediction in Leeds United, Southampton battle
Don Goodman has been wowed by what he has seen from Leeds United in recent weeks, but is backing Southampton for automatic promotion.
Leeds have won five Championship games in a row in 2024, while they thrashed fellow promotion rivals Ipswich Town 4-0 in December.
Southampton have themselves been in inspired form and are now in possession of second place after a club-record unbeaten run of 23 games.
Giving his views on United’s top-two hopes to MOT Leeds News, Goodman said: “I look back at the Ipswich performance and think, ‘Wow’.
“Nobody had done that to them before. To win 4-0 at Elland Road was a phenomenal performance – men against boys.
“That was when you feared for Ipswich a little bit. You always felt they were going to have a little wobble.
“It’s all closing in now and it’s clearly a battle for second between Ipswich, Southampton and Leeds.
“We’ve witnessed the dramatic improvement from Southampton. They are convincingly beating teams.
“I’d make them favourites now, if I’m being honest with you, to finish in the top two ahead of Leeds.
“Leeds have to keep applying the pressure because pressure can do strange things, as we saw when Leeds beat Ipswich.
“All Leeds can do is carry on chasing them down. The difference for me is that Southampton are putting in convincing performances.
“Leeds cans occasionally be unconvincing, and the same with Ipswich. At this stage, I think most people would back Southampton.
“But once they suffer adversity and lose a game, once this unbeaten runs ends, how will they react? Only then are we going to find out.”
Leeds United’s promotion hopes
On the back of comprehensively beating Ipswich, Leeds suffered back-to-back losses at the hands of Preston North End and West Brom.
At that point, Leeds were nine points adrift of Ipswich in the second automatic promotion spot and seemingly completely out of contention.
However, Daniel Farke’s men have since defeated Birmingham City, Cardiff City, Preston, Norwich City and Bristol City.
As things stand, third-placed Leeds are one point above Ipswich and one point behind Southampton, both of whom still have a game in hand.
It remains incredibly tight in that battle for second place, with the rest of February perhaps a defining period in the campaign.
Leeds need to keep this momentum going, with games against Rotherham United, Swansea City, Plymouth Argyle and Leicester City to come this month.
And if anyone needed reminding, Leeds are due to host Southampton at Elland Road on the final day of the season in what could be the ultimate shoot-out for a Premier League return.
In other Leeds United news, Troy Deeney hit out at something “awful” he saw in Leeds’ win over Bristol City.
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