Norwich vs Leeds Prediction and Betting Tips: Summerville to help Leeds gain a first leg advantage
Sunday's Championship play-off semi-final double header begins at 12pm when third-placed Leeds United travel to Carrow Road to face unfancied promotion contenders Norwich City.
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This weekend's hosts, having secured the fourth and final play-off place in the dramatic conclusion of the regular campaign last weekend despite losing to relegated Birmingham City, are expectedly the largest priced club to secure passage to the Premier League at around 6/1.
On the opposing end, given their strong push for automatic promotion and their final standing, Leeds are the shortest of any team to win this season's play-offs, with betting sites going as short as 13/8 for them to lift the trophy at Wembley in just over two weeks time.
Norwich vs Leeds Tips
Everybody is aware how the outcome of the play-offs can be compared to that of a lottery, with anybody capable of emerging victorious through the second tier's gruelling three-game final surge. However, it feels as though Leeds will find that extra gear on Sunday and see the pivotal moments in this match go their way to record a first leg away victory.
The Whites managed a sensational 2024 charge on the division across the span of four months, going undefeated and drawing just two of their 15 league fixtures from January until April struck and they took a tumble, winning only one of their remaining six.
Daniel Farke's side possess an abundance of quality in the final third between Crysencio Summerville, Wilfried Gnonto, Georginio Rutter and Joel Piroe, which should be enough to see them through this test.
They will also be buoyed significantly by their sturdy record against the top six this season, having done the double over newly-forged Premier League sides Leicester City and Ipswich Town, as well as beating Norwich home and away too.
Norwich's home form makes them a danger to anyone, including Leeds who've had a recent wobble, ending the regular season with back-to-back defeats and missing out on automatic promotion by six points.
Those defeats do need a little context, however, since QPR ended their season very strongly by recording a number of upsets, and Southampton, who beat Leeds on the final day, finished only three points behind them after the 46-game conclusion.
Three of Norwich's last four at Carrow Road have resulted in both teams scoring, with this pair's 3-2 meeting back in October falling into that category. That's also a similar case for Leeds on the road too, with three of their last four proving successful for BTTS backers.
Hot commodity Crysencio Summerville could be playing his final games for Leeds should the club fail to secure promotion back to the top flight, and that would come as no surprise given the remarkable campaign he's had.
The 22-year-old Dutch forward ended the season on 19 league goals in 44 appearances, sitting joint-third in the overall goalscoring charts behind Sammie Szmodics and Adam Armstrong, while level with Morgan Whittaker.
He's similarly positioned when it comes to shots and shots on target among the division too, standing fourth for both tallies and proving his high goalscoring output has been no fluke.
Summerville's last goals came as a brace in the 4-3 away win at the Riverside Stadium three matches ago. That double sparked his seventh and eighth goals away from Elland Road in the second tier and adding him to our previous selection helps increase this punt up to 5/1.
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