Premier League promotion: Southampton beat Leeds in playoff, join Leicester and Ipswich Town in top flight

Southampton booked a spot in next season’s Premier League competition on Sunday, beating Leeds United in the final of the Championship promotion playoffs at London’s Wembley Stadium, 1-0.

Adam Armstrong scored the game’s lone goal in the 24th minute, scoring his 21st goal of the season to seal the deal for his side. The final was played out in fairly modest fashion by both sides, neither of which mustered more than 10 shots or three attempts on target. Leeds were arguably wasteful during the match, putting just one of their 10 shots on goal.

The Saints now join Leicester City and Ipswich Town as the promoted sides for the 2024-25 Premier League season, returning to England’s top flight after being relegated in the 2022-23 season.

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

Leicester City

A season after their surprise relegation to the Championship, Leicester were able to bounce right back up to the Premier League after finishing in first place. The team with one of the second division’s highest wage bills found success with a combination of personnel with experience in the top flight and those who hope to make a name for themselves upon arrival next season, including new manager — and Pep Guardiola’s former assistant at Manchester City — Enzo Marseca.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was amongst the standouts for Leicester this season with 12 goals and 14 assists, while Abdul Fatawu posted 13 assists and former England international Jamie Vardy led the team with 16 goals this season. Marseca’s team ranked in the top two for goals per game at 1.9 and average possession with 62.1%, and their defensive effort was just as noteworthy. They conceded the fewest goals in the Championship, letting in 0.9 goals per game on their way back to the Premier League.

Ipswich Town

Ipswich return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002 and did so in style, just one year after securing 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 person in England with high-profile vacancies at United, Chelsea and Brighton and Hove Albion this summer.

McKenna’s team went with an attack-minded philosophy in the Championship, leading the league with two goals per game in the process. Leif Davis topped the Championship with 18 assists this season, while Conor Chaplin and Nathan Broadhead scored 13 goals each to help the team clinch promotion. They did manage to outperform their expected goals tally considerably this season, scoring 92 goals from 75.1 expected goals, which could see a degree of uncertainty follow them into the top flight — and that’s without considering their managerial situation.

Southampton

Much like Leicester, Southampton bounced back to the Premier League after succeeding in the Championship playoff final. They booked a spot in the playoffs after a fourth-place finish but despite some hard-fought battles in the postseason, impressed in several categories and hope to play an impressive style in the top flight next season.

Russell Martin’s Saints team prefers to hold onto the ball, leading the league for average possession with 66% this season. It was the foundation of an attack-heavy performance in the Championship, ranking third for goals per game with 1.9, second for expected goals at 81 and first for shots on target per match with 5.8. Playoff final goalscorer Armstrong was the standout of the offensive-minded team, scoring 24 goals and notching 13 assists this season.