Southampton vs West Brom Prediction (17.05.2024)

The Championship playoffs reach the second leg stage this week, Leeds host Norwich on Thursday and then we have this game, where Southampton host West Brom on Friday. Both are tied at 0-0 after the first leg, they were incredibly tight games with little to choose between the teams, and I think it'll be more of the same this week.

Playing away from home in the first leg, Southampton will be the happier of the two teams coming here, and will have a sold out home crowd cheering them on. They didn't play too badly in the first leg, and dominated possession as you would expect from a Russell Martin team, though both sides created little in the way of chances.

After falling away from the automatic promotion places with a few games to spare, I think Southampton have cruised into the playoffs, and will improve on what we saw on Sunday from them. I also think they've got some quality and match winners in the team, which could become crucial in what I expect to be another tight game, with few scoring chances.

Did West Brom miss their chance to really assert themselves on this tie on Sunday? I think they did. I expected a lot more, they've been battling just to get into the playoffs right until the end of the season, and had a chance to catch Southampton cold, but didn't take it. I expected more attacking from them, and given that, it'll be interesting to see just how they set up and go forward for this one.

Away from home, expectations are now lower for West Brom, but that also means the pressure is off, if only a little. They can play here without too much on their shoulders, despite it being a huge game.

I am going to take Southampton to narrowly win this game and book themselves a spot in the final at Wembley. I think it will be tight, and could come down to a single moment or two, where I believe Southampton have the better match winners, so I'm siding with them here.