Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has tipped Southampton to miss out on automatic promotion at the end of this term, making his predictions on talkSPORT.
The race for the top two has heated up in recent weeks, largely thanks to Leeds United’s unbeaten league run, Ipswich Town’s recovery following a tricky period and Leicester City’s drop-off in form.
At this stage, Leicester and Ipswich are both on course to be promoted to the Premier League, with the former set to return at the first time of asking and the latter having a chance of registering back-to-back promotions.
However, Leeds and the Saints can’t be ruled out at this stage, especially the Whites who have been in excellent form under Daniel Farke in 2024 and have the necessary quality and depth to overtake the Tractor Boys at some point.
But Kieran McKenna’s side have done an excellent job and were very consistent earlier in the season, which has helped to guide them to where they are.
Yesterday, the Saints had the chance to keep up the pressure on the top three, but a fire next to St Mary’s meant their clash against Preston North End was postponed.
This was a setback for them – and this fixture will now be rearranged.
What effect on the Saints that will have remains to be seen, but they are more points adrift of the top three than they would want to be at the moment, with the season drawing to a close.
