"They looked really leggy" - Pundit issues Leeds United v Norwich City play-offs prediction | OneFootball

Leeds United travel to Norfolk to play Norwich City in the Championship play-off semi-final first leg at Carrow Road on Sunday, having narrowly missed out on a place inside the top two to Leicester City and Ipswich Town.

They are about to embark on their first play-off campaign since 2019, when Leeds were in this position before, having been involved in a three-horse race for automatic promotion with Norwich City and Sheffield United. Marcelo Bielsa in his first season in charge then oversaw a two-legged defeat to Derby County.

Daniel Farke is now in charge and about to face off against his former side, whom he won two Championship titles with in his previous two seasons at this level. Norwich themselves have found their place inside the top six fairly assured for some time now, and secured it on the final day despite defeat to Birmingham City.

The first leg is on Sunday but the reverse fixture will take place at Elland Road on Thursday, with the winner progressing to the final at Wembley Stadium on the 26th May. Southampton or West Brom await in the final, with a place in the Premier League next season at stake in what is dubbed as the most expensive football match in world football.

Neither side go into the clash in particularly strong form, with Leeds having lost four of their last six, while David Wagner’s side have won just two of their last seven in the league. Crucially for Leeds, Farke has the edge over his former side, having won both fixtures during the regular season by an aggregate of four goals to two.

The Whites were victorious away at Norwich City back in November, coming from two goals down to secure the victory through Crysencio Summerville, whilst ex-Canary Patrick Bamford notched the winner in the game at Elland Road in January.

The first leg at Carrow Road will get underway at 12pm on Sunday, where Leeds will be the favourites among many neutrals going into the first leg, in part due to the quality of the individuals available to Farke in the semi-finals.

Carlton Palmer's Leeds United v Norwich City play-off semi-final verdict

Ex-England international and former Leeds man Carlton Palmer believes Leeds have the edge during the tie, given the quality of their side back to front, with goals not a problem for Farke, and a strong defensive record which should be the difference in both boxes.

"Leeds finished third after posting 90 points but missing out on automatic promotion, just showing how well Leicester City and Ipswich Town did with 97 and 96 points respectively.

"Norwich finished some 17 points behind Leeds on 73, but that counts for nothing in the play-offs. "Leeds are going into the play-offs in a bad run of form, which cost them most dearly at the end of the season. "Four defeats, one win, one draw in their last six games is not good reading. "For me, they looked really leggy towards the end of the season. Meanwhile, Norwich City come into the play-offs with two wins, three draws, and only one defeat in their last six. "But Leeds have a lot of talented players. The young boy, [Archie] Gray, that everybody is looking at, plus you look at the wide players they have got, Bamford up front. "They've got a very strong outfit, but the key for this game, is that Leeds don't concede a lot of goals. "They only conceded 43 goals, and only Leicester at the top have conceded less with 41, and they scored 81 times as well. "Norwich are only two behind in terms of goals, but the difference is that they've conceded 21 more goals. "The front line with Summerville, [Willy] Gnonto, and Bamford will go all out attack knowing that the way Farke plays has that security behind them.

"I fully expect, over the two legs, for Leeds to be too strong for Norwich City."

There is plenty of pressure on Leeds United ahead of two-legged Norwich City clash

There is plenty of narrative surrounding the game, especially regarding Daniel Farke returning to his former side, and what Palmer has outlined has been true of his side for much of the season.

Their last three games have seen Leeds concede nine goals, though, which will have Norwich City licking their lips considering the wealth of quality in their attacking ranks.

However, if Leeds can get back to basics and hit the heights of much of their form in 2024, then there is no reason that they couldn't beat the Canaries and whoever they come up against in the final as well.

Norwich are the outside bet, but also come into the play-offs in the best form of any side, which can often be the thing to carry a side through to the final.

But given that they were expected to be automatically promoted, Leeds will be under a lot of pressure to succeed against Norwich over two legs and then go on to Wembley against West Brom or Southampton - they need to be in better form than they have been in recent weeks though.