West Brom’s Okay Yokuslu drops Leeds United, Southampton play-off prediction | OneFootball

West Bromwich Albion midfielder Okay Yoksulu believes Leeds United and Southampton will both be confident of securing their places in the Championship play-off final due to the fact both have the home advantage in the second leg, speaking to the Baggies' media team.

Leeds face Norwich City in the semi-final tie following their finish in third - and many people would have predicted a win for the Whites - even before Sunday's 0-0 draw in the first leg at Carrow Road.

Having the likes of Crysencio Summerville and Willy Gnonto at their disposal, and finishing the season on 90 points under Daniel Farke, the West Yorkshire side will be extremely disappointed if they don't manage to book their place at Wembley in tonight's clash at Elland Road.

Yoksulu's Albion, meanwhile, play tomorrow evening against Russell Martin's Saints.

The first leg at The Hawthorns finished 0-0, which isn't ideal for the Baggies, who would have wanted to take an advantage to St Mary's.

That goalless game in the Midlands was largely thanks to the two goalkeepers, Alex Palmer and Alex McCarthy, both of whom made some excellent saves.

Okay Yokuslu's Leeds United, Southampton claim amid play-off battle

With both first legs finishing level, it could be argued that it's Leeds' and the Saints' ties to lose, with both having the home crowd behind them in the upcoming second legs.

And this is a point West Brom's Yokuslu made ahead of tomorrow's clash for the Baggies on the south coast.

He said: "I imagine Leeds and Southampton will be quite confident that they are playing the second legs of the Play-Offs at home.

"They are a solid team and they’ll be full of confidence because they are at home and they’ll be very motivated, just like us. We have to be ready to face a very motivated team.

"I’m not expecting Southampton to be too different, but I do think they’ll be more aggressive.

"The beginning of the game is going to be really demanding for us because of the crowd and the occasion. I’m sure they’ll try and press us and they’ll try to put a lot of pressure on us. We’ll have to manage that and we’ll have to try and frustrate them."

Leeds United and Southampton would be disappointed to miss out now

Leeds have some brilliant players at their disposal and on paper, they should be too strong for Norwich.

The game between the Saints and the Baggies may be much closer, with Carlos Corberan already having play-off experience under his belt.

However, the Saints will take heart from the fact they were able to keep a clean sheet in the first leg and this is confidence they will take into tomorrow's game.

But home advantage doesn't always work out.

You only have to ask Doncaster Rovers and Peterborough United, with the former losing their 2-0 lead in their home leg and going on to lose on penalties, and the latter only able to draw 1-1 against Oxford United.