Leeds United Under-21s travel away from home on Friday evening, to take on Southampton Under-21s in a top-of-the-table Premier League 2 Division 2 clash (7pm).
The match takes place at the Staplewood Football Development & Support Centre, which is the training ground for the Saints. It was originally scheduled to take place at St Mary’s but has now been switched.
Friday’s match has significance in the race for automatic promotion in the league standings, with the winner of this encounter guaranteed to finish the night top of the league.
The hosts currently occupy top-spot themselves, but Leeds sit just one place behind in the standings, with the gap also being just one point. A further point back in third, Nottingham Forest are hoping to continue their strong end to the season as the race for top-spot heats up.
Leeds were boosted by an important win at home to Aston Villa on Monday night. Goals from Brenden Aaronson and Sean McGurk saw the Whites claim their first three points of 2023.
The Saints have been in fine form lately and will pose a tough test this weekend. A 2-1 win away at fellow promotion hopefuls West Brom earlier this week was hard-fought, and saw them reclaim their place at the summit.
From 14 matches so far this term, David Horseman’s side have only been defeated on two occasions, one of which was a 6-2 loss against the Whites at Elland Road in September. It was a game where Patrick Bamford scored a hat-trick.
Dangers in attack and with a clear eye for goal, Mateo Joseph will be looking to extend on his 12 strikes so far this season. The home side have Dom Ballard to turn to, with the 17-year-old also in double figures for the campaign.
Last time we met:
Supporter information:
Unfortunately, supporters are not permitted to attend the match now it is being played at Southampton’s training ground. The Saints have stated that full refunds will be given to anyone who initially purchased tickets to attend at St Mary’s.
How to watch:
LUTV cannot show the match due to broadcast restrictions. Coverage is available as always with our liveblog on leedsunited.com, followed by a full report, highlights and reaction after the game.
Top scorer (PL2):
Saints: Dom Ballard (10)
Leeds: Mateo Joseph (12)
League position:
Saints: 1st
Leeds: 2nd
