"Wow" - Carlton Palmer issues prediction for Leeds United v Southampton | OneFootball

Leeds United and Southampton are going head-to-head this Sunday, with an instant return to the Premier League at stake in this season’s Championship play-off final at Wembley.

Following their respective relegations last term, the pair came into this season as two of the favourites for automatic promotion, and were neck-and-neck for much of the season, during a four-way race for the top two alongside Ipswich Town and Leicester City.

The latter two won that race, meaning Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion were Leeds and Southampton's opponents for the nerve-wracking play-offs. The Whites and the Saints made home advantage count in the second-leg of their semi-finals, after both drawing their first game 0-0 away from home, to set up a mouth-watering Wembley clash.

After overcoming that duo on aggregate, the third and fourth placed teams will now get the chance to make an immediate return to the top-flight by winning the so-called ‘richest game in football’ at Wembley, with millions expected to tune in for the EFL's main event of the year.

Play-off finals can often be very nervy and cagey affairs, but the games between the pair this season have seen plenty of goals so far; Southampton won both league matches between the sides earlier this season. A 3-1 triumph on home soil in September came first before winning 2-1 at Elland Road on the final day of the season - ending any hope of Leeds achieving automatic promotion over Ipswich in the process.

Carlton Palmer predicts Championship play-off final

The Championship automatic promotion race has been one of the most intense and hotly contested in many years with the standard being set at the top of the table at an all-time high, and the two best sides to miss out on promotion have made it to Wembley.

Plenty of neutrals, pundits, and fans of both clubs are beginning to have their say, and we spoke to a man with history with both sides. Carlton Palmer played 119 times for Leeds and 50 for Southampton, and he provided his verdict on the final between his two former clubs, who have been separated by very little over the course of the campaign.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Palmer said: "My prediction then, for Leeds against Southampton in the Championship play-off final. Wow, this really is a very tough one to call.

"If you look at their last six games going into the play-offs, Leeds had lost four, drawn one, and won two. Southampton had won three and lost three.

"Looking at the stats between them - Leeds won 27 games, with Southampton winning 26. Leeds drew nine, and Southampton nine. Leeds lost 10 games, and Southampton 11. Leeds scored 81 goals, with Southampton scoring 87. Leeds only conceded 43 goals, and Southampton 63. "So, it's been very tight between the two clubs all year. Maybe, though, that's the key there, with Southampton conceding 20 more goals. "That may be the key in the final. I think if it's a tight affair, we could see it go all the way to the wire. "Only three points separated them where they finished in the league in third and fourth place. "I obviously played for both clubs and I would like to see both clubs go back to the Premier League but only one club can make it. "I firmly said at the start of the season that Leicester City and Leeds would get promoted to the Premier League.

"I'm going to stay with my prediction that Leeds will get promoted back to the Premier League on Sunday."

Leeds United v Southampton verdict

With so much at stake, there is a chance this goes the way many finals have done in the past, with a cagey and tight game usually the outcome in recent years, where there has been 16 goals in the last 10 Championship play-off finals.

However, the quality should be high, as both have plenty of top-flight standard footballers at their disposal, and potential match-winners throughout the pitch and in both boxes. It may come down to a moment of individual brilliance, and that could make the likes of Crysencio Summerville and Adam Armstrong the players to look out for on the day.

Despite getting the better of Daniel Farke twice this season, Russell Martin should not expect the same game here. There has been hardly anything to split them all year, as Palmer alludes to.