Leeds and Southampton: Key moments that shaped their seasons

Leeds and Southampton finished third and fourth respectively in the Championship table

Leeds and Southampton meet in the Championship play-off final on Sunday with both teams looking to secure an immediate return to the Premier League.

BBC Sport looks back on the moments that have mattered for the pair across the season, starting with Leeds.

Leeds appoint Farke as manager

Last season was a dismal campaign for the Whites as both Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia were sacked before veteran boss Sam Allardyce was unable to save them from the drop.

The club needed stability and an experienced head in the second tier and the appointment of Daniel Farke, a two-time Championship title-winner with Norwich, on 4 July immediately looked like an astute one.

Leeds inflict Ipswich's only home defeat

Unsurprisingly one of Farke's first jobs over the summer was to try to reshape the squad and a large number of last season's side were moved on permanently or on loan.

In terms of players coming in, defender Ethan Ampadu arrived from Chelsea and Swansea forward Joel Piroe signed for around £10m, while Tottenham centre-back Joe Rodon joined on loan.

Leeds' season did not begin well and their first three games brought just two points.

Their trip to flying Ipswich on 26 August got off to a terrible start when Rodon scored an own-goal after seven minutes, but they rallied and strikes from Georginio Rutter, Willy Gnonto and Piroe put them 3-1 up after 19 minutes.

Gnonto had returned to the squad after more than two weeks out when he had tried to force a move out of the club, only to subsequently apologise.

Colombia winger Luis Sinisterra scored the crucial fourth in what proved to be his final league appearance for the club before moving to Bournemouth.

This win, the only game Ipswich lost at home all season, was the first of 12 in 17 league games for Farke's men.

Flying Foxes downed by Whites

Archie Gray has enjoyed a fantastic breakthrough season with Leeds and won the Championship young player of the year award

A mixed end to 2023, which saw them hammer Ipswich 4-0 but then lose at Preston and West Brom, put Leeds 17 points behind leaders Leicester at the turn of the year.

They started 2024 with a comfortable 3-0 success over Birmingham City on 1 January and then... kept winning.

They went into the home game against Leicester on 23 February off the back of eight successive league wins, which had seen them rise up to second, nine points behind the Foxes.

Wout Faes gave Enzo Maresca's men an early lead at Elland Road and it looked like the run was coming to an end with Leeds still trailing 1-0 heading into the final 10 minutes.

However, January addition Connor Roberts levelled and, minutes later, teenage star Archie Gray hit a shot from outside the area that deflected in off Faes and sparked pandemonium.

A shell-shocked Leicester let in a late third when Patrick Bamford deflected a Dan James free-kick in - and the night ended with Leeds believing the title was still up for grabs.

Leeds loss at QPR hands Ipswich initiative

The Leicester triumph was the last of the nine-game winning streak but four victories from the subsequent six games were enough for Leeds to stay in second, one point behind Ipswich and one ahead of the Foxes with six games to go.

Two defeats in their next three, including a shock home reverse by lowly Blackburn which ended their unbeaten home record, were damaging, but a 4-3 victory at Middlesbrough put them back up to second.

They travelled to struggling QPR on Friday, 26 April, knowing they needed to win to keep the pressure on third-placed Ipswich, who would have two games in hand come full-time.

A deflected Ilias Chair shot gave the home side an early advantage and Leeds simply crumbled thereafter as they slumped to a dismal 4-0 loss.

That meant Ipswich needed just five points from their remaining three games to go up - and they duly got the job done on the final day to leave Leeds in the play-offs.

Leeds clip Canaries' wings in play-offs

Georginio Rutter put Leeds 3-0 up before the break in their crushing win over Norwich

Five previous play-off campaigns had brought no success and fans were understandably a little apprehensive after a dour 0-0 draw in the first leg of the semi-final at Norwich.

They needn't have worried.

In front of a crackling atmosphere Leeds demolished the Canaries in an all-action display that saw them race into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Ilia Gruev, Piroe and Gnonto.

Championship player of the season Crysencio Summerville wrapped it up with his 21st of the season.

Martin handed task of reviving Saints

Southampton finished the 2022-23 Premier League season rock-bottom after a disappointing campaign in which they accumulated just 25 points.

The Saints had started the season with Ralph Hasenhuttl as boss but in early November they sacked the Austrian and brought in Nathan Jones from Luton Town on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

The Welshman lasted just three months, losing nine of 14 matches, and Ruben Selles was placed in interim charge for the remainder of the campaign.

During the summer it looked like the Saints would install former Leeds boss Jesse Marsch, but on 21 June it was announced that Swansea boss Russell Martin would be the one to manage the side.

Saints click after poor start

Adam Armstrong scored both home and away against Leeds this season

Martin soon lost a number of key players.

The likes of James Ward-Prowse, Romeo Lavia, Tino Livramento and Nathan Tella all left the club after the season had started.

Saints were unbeaten in their first four Championship matches but, after that, a 5-0 defeat at Sunderland was the first of four consecutive defeats.

Some Southampton fans feared the worst when Leeds came to St Mary's on 30 September but something changed as Martin's side ran riot. They were 3-0 up at half-time and eventually won the game 3-1.

This win kick-started a club-record 25-game unbeaten run in all competitions that saw them rise as high as second in the Championship table.

Long unbeaten run ends at Bristol City

The unbeaten run continued all the way through from late September to 13 February, when Bristol City finally ended the hot streak.

The Robins scored three second-half goals to secure all three points, Adam Armstrong's injury-time penalty was a mere consolation.

Southampton would then go on to win three of their next six league games before a wobble at home, losing to Hull City and Millwall and conceding a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough.

Promotion chances hurt at Ipswich

Ipswich Town and Leicester City are the first two sides to win promotion to the Premier League from the Championship this season

Southampton's automatic promotion hopes were dealt a double blow when they travelled to face Ipswich on 1 April.

First, just hours before kick-off, news broke that Manchester United were stepping up their efforts to recruit Saints director of football Jason Wilcox.

Then, on the pitch, Martin's side suffered an agonising late defeat.

Saints went a goal behind early on but equalised immediately through Che Adams.

Adam Armstrong then put the visitors 2-1 ahead at half-time.

Nathan Broadhead equalised in the 68th minute before Southampton defender James Bree was sent off, leaving Martin's side to play with 10 men for the remaining five minutes of normal time.

Saints fans thought they had done enough to leave Portman Road with a point but up stepped Jeremy Sarmiento, who scored in the 97th minute to win it for Kieran McKenna's side.

Saints rediscover form against West Brom

Adam Armstrong has scored 23 goals and has 13 assists this season in all competitions

After three straight wins rekindled hopes of automatic promotion, it became clear that Martin's side would have to settle for the play-offs when they lost three games on the spin.

Defeat at Cardiff was followed by a 5-0 thumping at Leicester before a 1-0 loss to Stoke at St Mary's.

Expectations were not high for the final game of the regular season when they travelled to Elland Road to face Leeds, but they laid down a marker for the play-offs by coming away with a 2-1 win with goals from Armstrong and Will Smallbone.

Saints then knew they would face West Brom in the semi-final of the play-offs and, after a goalless draw at The Hawthorns in the first meeting, a vibrant St Mary's saw Southampton win 3-0 in the second leg on 17 May.

A stunning goal from Smallbone was followed up by two Armstrong strikes as they booked their place at Wembley.