Sammie Szmodics makes Leeds United Championship playoffs prediction
Blackburn Rovers star Sammie Szmodics believes Leeds United will win the Championship playoffs.
The Whites finished third in the table and are set to face Norwich City in the first leg of their playoff semi-final on 12 May.
Should Leeds defeat the Canaries over two legs, they would then face either Southampton or West Brom in the final at Wembley.
And Szmodics feels the Whites will be the ones to lift the trophy and win promotion back to the Premier League, saying on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast (9 May): “I would have to go, just because I have played against them, with Leeds [to win the playoffs].
“Elland Road, tough place to go – but not for Blackburn actually! We went there and beat them, but [with] the players they’ve got and the team they’ve got, I think they will do it.”
Can Leeds United win the playoffs?
Recent form aside, Championship top scorer Szmodics – who scored 27 league goals this season – is right to point to the quality Leeds possess.
This is a team that, under the guidance of Daniel Farke, amassed an exceptional 90 points this term – a total that would have been enough to secure a top-two finish and automatic promotion in most campagins.
The Whites also boast the division’s joint-third highest scorer in Crysencio Summerville, who has netted 19 times, and Georginio Rutter, whose 15 assists rank second only to Ipswich Town left-back Leif Davis – formerly of Leeds – in the English second tier.
Furthermore, Leeds boast the second-best defensive record in the competition, shipping just 43 goals in 46 games.
Despite a stuttering end to the season in which the Whites lost four and won just one of their final six league games, Leeds have the quality necessary to overcome their poor form and haul themselves back to the top flight.
In other Leeds United news, Middlesbrough have made a £1.5million decision on Sam Greenwood.
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