Premier League promotion: Southampton beats Leeds in play-offs to join Leicester and Ipswich Town in the top flight

Southampton booked their place in next season’s Premier League competition on Sunday, beating Leeds United 1-0 in the Championship promotion play-off final at London’s Wembley Stadium.

Adam Armstrong scored the only goal of the match in the 24th minute and scored his 21st goal of the season, sealing the deal for his side. The final was played in a fairly modest manner by both sides, with neither producing more than ten shots or three attempts on goal. Leeds were arguably wasteful throughout the match, putting just one of their ten shots on target.

The Saints now join Leicester City and Ipswich Town as the promoted sides for the 2024-2025 Premier League season, returning to England’s top flight after relegation in the 2022-2023 season.

Here’s what you need to know about next season’s Premier League newcomers.

Leicester city

A season after their surprise relegation to the Championship, Leicester were able to return straight to the Premier League after finishing in first place. The team with one of the highest wage bills in the second division has found success with a combination of staff with top-level experience and those hoping to make a name for themselves when they arrive next season, including the new manager – and Pep Guardiola’s former assistant at Manchester City-Enzo Marseca.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall has been one of the standouts for Leicester this season with twelve goals and fourteen assists, while Abdul Fatawu has provided thirteen assists and former England international Jamie Vardy has led the team with sixteen goals this season. Marseca’s team were in the top two for goals per game with 1.9 and average possession with 62.1%, and their defensive effort was just as remarkable. They conceded the fewest goals in the Championship and conceded 0.9 goals per game on their way back to the Premier League.

Ipswich town

Ipswich returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2002 and did so in style, just a year after gaining promotion from League One. They finished just one point behind Leicester in the table thanks to the leadership of Kieran McKenna, the former Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United youth coach, who has impressed enough in his first managerial role to become the most in-demand, high-profile person in England . vacancies at United, Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion this summer.

McKenna’s team adopted an attacking philosophy in the Championship, leading the league with two goals per game. Leif Davis led the Championship this season with 18 assists, while Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead each scored 13 goals to help the team gain promotion. They did manage to significantly exceed their expected goals tally this season, scoring 92 goals out of 75.1 expected goals, meaning a degree of uncertainty could follow them to the top – and that’s without taking into account with their management situation.

Southampton

Like Leicester, Southampton returned to the Premier League after success in the Championship play-off final. They booked a place in the play-offs after finishing fourth, but despite some hard-fought battles in the post-season they impressed in several categories and will be hoping to play an impressive style in the top flight next season.

Russell Martin’s Saints team prefer to hold the ball and lead the league in average possession this season with 66%. It set the stage for an attacking-heavy performance in the Championship, ranking third for goals per game with 1.9, second for expected goals with 81 and first for shots on target per game with 5.8. Armstrong, the final scorer of the play-offs, was the star of the attacking team and scored 24 goals and 13 assists this season.