Norwich v Leeds LIVE: Championship play-off result and reaction from semi-final first leg
Norwich 0-0 Leeds United: Play-off semi-final remains finely poised after cagey first leg at Carrow Road
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Your support makes all the difference.Norwich City and Leeds United played out a goalless draw in the first leg of their Championship play-offs semi-final tie.
Leeds appealed for a penalty in the seventh minute when Willy Gnonto went down after contact with Borja Sainz on the edge of the penalty area but the referee disagreed.
Junior Firpo found the net on the half-hour mark but Georginio Rutter was offside during the build-up, causing the goal to be ruled out for the visitors.
Norwich, who failed to score at a home game for the first time since December, will visit Leeds for the second leg of the semi-final on Thursday.
Coverage continues with West Brom vs Southampton below, and get all the latest football predictions and odds here.
Norwich 0-0 Leeds
3 mins: An early Norwich corner is whipped into the near post from Sara but Leeds clear it away.
KICK-OFF! Norwich 0-0 Leeds
1 min: And we’re off and underway as Leeds get the first half started.
Out come the players
Here come both teams into the sunshine as applause rings around the stadium.
We’re almost ready to go here...
Closing in on kick-off here
Just under ten minutes to go and the atmosphere is already at fever pitch inside Carrow Road. What a cracker we should have in store today.
Leeds looking to break play-off hoodoo
Daniel Farke’s side may come into the play-offs as the bookies’ favourites but, historically, they have struggled in the format.
Leeds have never won promotion via the play-offs, with this their sixth appearance. They lost 4-3 on aggregate to Frank Lampard’s Derby County in the 2018-19 semi-final in their most recent.
Can they end that run this year?
Ominous signs for Norwich
Norwich have won just one of their last seven home games against Leeds in all competitions (D2 L4), losing each of the last three in a row. Their meeting at Carrow Road in the regular Championship season finished 3-2 to the Whites.
Can David Wagner’s side turn it around today?
Gorden Sargent speaks to Sky Sports
The American striker has enjoyed a resurgent season in the green and yellow after initially struggling when he first moved to the club in the Premier League.
Here are his thoughts on Norwich’s season:
Farke backs Leeds to shake off poor form
Leeds had been strong challengers for automatic promotion before losing four of their remaining six games and became the first Championship side since Sunderland in 1998 to finish on 90 points and not go straight up.
Farke insisted his players can recover their shaken confidence in time for Sunday’s trip to Norfolk and that they had previously proved up to the challenge of “spotlight” matches throughout the season.
“We are not experienced, but I would not change one player,” the German added. “We have spoken about the the winning mentality that I think we have.
“It always felt during the whole season, when there is a special occasion, we were there.
“When there were spotlight games, we won two times against Leicester and we won two times against Ipswich.
“Yes, more consistency on other days would have been great, but with 90 points you can’t speak too much about lack of consistency.”
Jam-packed day of Championship action
It’s a bonanza of Championship play-off action, with West Brom’s tie against Southampton coming later in the day.
To follow updates of that game, don’t go anywhere as they’ll be coming up right here after full-time at Carrow Road.
Leeds team news
Meanwhile, there’s just one change for Leeds after their 2-1 defeat against Southampton on final day. Gray comes in for Piroe, which could hint at a formation change from Daniel Farke’s side after their disappointing end of the regular season.
Leeds have normally lined up in a 4-2-3-1 but this could be a more balanced 4-3-3 formation today.
Leeds XI: Meslier, Byram, Rodon, Ampadu, Firpo, Gruev, Kamara, Gray, Summerville, Gnonto, Rutter
Subs: Darlow, Roberts, Cooper, Cresswell, Shackleton, Anthony, James, Piroe, Joseph.
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