Leeds United 3-1 West Brom - recap: Player ratings and post-match reaction from Elland Road
There will be a long-awaited return to the Elland Road stands for around 8,000 supporters after 14 months away amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
On top of fans being welcomed back, United will say goodbye to two - possibly three - of their promotion heroes.
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Hide AdPablo Hernandez and Gaetano Berardi have announced their intention to leave the club this summer while Gjanni Alioski is out of contract and looks increasingly likely to depart.
El Mago, as Hernandez is affectionately known, played a key role in helping Leeds earn promotion to the top flight last season.
Berardi and Alioski were also crucial figures for Bielsa's Championship title winners as they made history to break a 16-year absence from the Premier League.
The Swiss defender will leave West Yorkshire after a seven-year stay at the club having fully recovered from a torn ACL suffered on the last day of the promotion-winning campaign.
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Hide AdUnited welcome the already-relegated Baggies to LS11 on Sunday afternoon in what is the last outing of the campaign ahead of a summer of change.
Follow all the pre-match build-up, in-game updates and post-match reaction on our live blog:
LIVE BLOG: Leeds United 3-1 West Brom (full-time)
Key Events
- Leeds host West Brom on final day
- Elland Road to welcome 8,000 fans
- Hernandez and Berardi will play their final game
- Kick-off in LS11 is at 4pm
Good afternoon
Welcome to today’s final matchday blog of the 2020/21 campaign.
It is set to be an emotional day at Elland Road this afternoon with 8,000 fans returning to the stands for the first time in 14 months.
Pablo Hernandez and Gaetano Berardi will also say goodbye to the club while Gjanni Alioski could depart this summer with his contract up.
We’ll bring you all the latest right here. Stay tuned...
Early Leeds United team news
Central defender Diego Llorente will miss out on this afternoon’s clash with a minor issue.
Robin Koch and Mateusz Klich have both been given time off ahead of this summer’s delayed Euro 2020 tournament.
Helder Costa and Adam Forshaw remain sidelined.
Early West Brom team news
The Baggies have an injury doubt in the form of key playmaker Matheus Pereira.
Long-term injury absentees Branislav Ivanovic and Robert Snodgrass remain on the sidelines.
Predicted Whites line-up
We selected our XI that fans would want to see this afternoon: Meslier; Ayling, Cooper, Berardi, Alioski; Phillips; Dallas, Hernandez, Harrison, Raphinha; Bamford.
What Marcelo Bielsa has said
On West Brom: “The arrival of Allardyce helped the people to visualise with the performance and the results that the team has that you can see clearly in the performances in the team and the way they have competed.
“And there is nothing better than to watch the production of the team to show the qualities that senor Allardyce has.”
What Sam Allardyce has said
“There is still the pride and professionalism to try to finish the season as best you can,” he said ahead of kick-off.
“Sadly for us we have lost our last two have been difficult games, and I’d hate to finish the final game by losing that as well, because people might think they’ve given up, and they haven’t given up.
“We’ve been fighting until the very end, even though our fate has been decided, to give something back to the fans at West Brom by winning a match.”
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