The Sky Bet Championship season will continue towards Wembley Stadium for someone on Thursday evening and conclude for another when Leeds United play host to Norwich City in the second leg of their play-off semi-final.
We basically have ourselves a one game shootout for a spot at Wembley Stadium as the first leg ended 0-0 at Carrow Road at the weekend and with away goals not counting double the winner on the night will progress.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels with the build-up at Elland Road beginning at 7pm ahead of the 8pm kick off.
Leeds United
You would have to say it is a huge advantage Leeds United heading into this second leg. In order to take their season to Wembley Stadium they need to win a home game against one of the poorer travelling sides in the competition to give themselves a shot at an instant return to the Premier League. Where the doubt comes from is their inability to make the most of situations like this in the past, added to the desperation of not wanting to be plying their trade in the second tier.
You would have to say that Daniel Farke got it right in the first leg when he set up to contain his former side and ensure that his current charges were still in the tie heading back home. That was mission accomplished because not only have they remained in the tie but they are level with their opposition. Leeds limped into the play-offs but they have the comfort of knowing that only Ipswich picked up more points at home in the regular season than they did.
Norwich City
It was a bit of a weird game for Norwich City at the weekend. With them being at home the emphasis was probably on them to go after Leeds United and ensure that they took a lead to Yorkshire with them but they seemed shackled by nerves and pressure and the fear that in trying to get the advantage they probably needed they could surrender parity and end up chasing the game here. They won’t need to chase the game but winning at Leeds is never an easy task.
If Norwich are to rescue themselves and set up a trip to Wembley then they simply have to put a pretty ordinary away record in the regular season behind them and focus on the now. What they can do is keep things tight in the early part of this second leg and see if they can get some anxiety in the crowd which would seep into the players of their hosts. If that happens then Norwich could feed off that and maybe cause an upset.
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Team News
Leeds United look set to be without Patrick Bamford for this second leg so having gone with the false nine at Carrow Road, Daniel Farke could bring Joel Piroe into the side to give his men more firepower in this second leg. Daniel James is pushing for a start too.
Norwich City have a fitness concern over Kenny McLean going into this second leg but the midfield stalwart won’t want to miss a match of this magnitude. Ashley Barnes looks set to miss out once again so Josh Sargent will continue to lead the line.
Betting
It remains to be seen whether the regular season counts for anything now but if it does then Leeds United do look good things in this second leg. They were the second best home side in the league, conceding just 16 goals in their 23 home matches, whereas Norwich were one of the weaker on their travels and only rock bottom Rotherham, one of the poorer sides the Championship have seen, conceded fewer goals away from home.
It must be said that when Norwich are attacked they do look vulnerable through the centre of the pitch which is where Leeds can be quite strong with their inverted wingers coming in and causing havoc. I would imagine Leeds are going to come out very fast here and look to get the advantage and if they go ahead early this could be a real long night for the Canaries as they have to chase the tie. Norwich’s best hope is to try and take the game as deep as possible but I think we see the class of Leeds here and I expect them to win and have enough in hand to keep the heart rates down in the closing stages.
Tips
Back Leeds United (-1AH) to beat Norwich City for a 3/10 stake at 1.99 with William Hill
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