When a young Alan Shearer halted Leeds United's title charge - but not for long

Tuesday night's visitors Southampton are the only team the Whites are yet to play on their return to the big time.

The contest was initially set to be staged on Wednesday, January 20 but the game was postponed in order for Southampton to play their Emirates FA Cup third round tie with Shrewsbury Town.

It means United will now face the Saints twice in less than four months with the return clash at Elland Road set to take place over the penultimate weekend of the season of May 15.

Quite where the two sides are in the Premier League table at that point remains to be seen and a sliding Saints side are in need of a return winning ways ahead of today's home clash against Chelsea.

Leeds are also not a side that the south coast outfit have a particularly good record against with 44 league clashes between the two yielding 44 Whites wins and 25 victories for Southampton in addition to 19 draws.

Yet back in December 1991, even a Leeds side that would go on to be champions of England could not quite put away the visiting Saints who left Elland Road with a 3-3 draw following a Boxing Day thriller.

Leeds were in their second season back in the big time having been promoted as Division Two champions under Howard Wilkinson in May 1990.

By then, Southampton were already a well established top flight side having constantly stayed in the division since their promotion as Division Two runners-up way back in 1978.

The Saints even finished top flight runners up in 1984 and a very respectable seventh placed finish had come in the season in which Leeds came up from the second tier.

The first league meeting between the two sides nearly eight years then ended in a 2-1 victory for Leeds at Elland Road in December 1990 before Southampton exacted their revenge with a 2-0 triumph at The Dell three months later.

Southampton, though, only finished the season in 14th whereas a Leeds side destined to then become champions of England one year later came fourth.

Wilkinson's side faced a trip to the Saints in the third game of what would prove their title winning season and romped to a 4-0 victory on the last Wednesday of August 1991.

Yet Southampton again ensured their exacted at least some sort of revenge in the Boxing Day return at Elland Road as part of a season in which they again preserved their long top flight status by finishing 16th.

Leeds approached the fixture having seen the momentum of four consecutive league wins checked by a 1-1 draw at home to Tottenha Hotspur and a goalless draw at Nottingham Forest.

The Saints had also drawn two of their last three and had gone five games without a win in league and cup.

Another defeat looked in the offing when Leeds took a 27th-minute lead as Steve Hodge netted from close range by racing on to Lee Chapman's flicked header from a free-kick.

Hodge was then at it again just three minutes later as he doubled United's lead with a header from close range following a majestic cross from Mel Sterland with the outside of his boot.

Hodge's seventh goal of the season had United 2-0 up and cruising at the break but Iain Dowie pulled a goal back for the visitors five minutes after the interval when prodding home from six yards out after good work from former Whites player Micky Adams with his run from the middle of the park.

Leeds then restored their two goal cushion with 17 minutes left as more sterling work from Sterland provided another brilliant cross which was headed home by Gary Speed who gave keeper Tim Flowers no chance.

But Southampton had a young striker called Alan Shearer in their ranks and the 21-year-old reduced the deficit with a raking low shot from 25 yards out that flew into the net past John Lukic in off the post with 11 minutes left.

It meant a nervy conclusion and Shearer then set up a dramatic equaliser as his header to an Adams cross crashed back off the post but straight into the path of Dowie who could not miss from two yards out with just five minutes left.

The draw ultimately failed to stop United being crowned champions but Southampton stuck around and it was certainly not the last that Leeds would see of Shearer.

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Thank you Laura Collins