Sky Sports pundit Liam Rosenior believes that Leeds United are now the favourites to win the Championship play-offs, ahead of Aston Villa.

Marcelo Bielsa's side beat Derby County 1-0 in the first leg of their play-off semi-final at Pride Park on Saturday evening, thanks to a second-half strike from top scorer Kemar Roofe.

Meanwhile, Villa also won the first leg of their semi-final, beating rivals West Brom 2-1 at Villa Park, with two goals in four second-half minutes from Conor Hourihane and Tammy Abraham.

Villa finished fifth in the Championship table, after an incredible twelve-match unbeaten run catapulted them into the top six.

Meanwhile, after challenging for automatic promotion all season, Leeds just missed out on a place in the top two and went into the play-offs without a win in their previous four matches.

Rosenior admitted that he initially picked Villa as his choice to win the play-offs, but is now convinced the Leeds are the new favourites after the way they played against Derby.

The pundit added that Leeds' poor run of form leading up to the play-offs could actually work to their advantage going into semi-finals.

"Before the playoffs started, I would have said Villa were favourites, but I watched Leeds play against Derby and they were absolutely fantastic," Rosenior said on The Debate, which was broadcast on Sky Sports on Monday night.

"It's really difficult to go all the way until the end of the season and miss out on that top two and go again.

"I think it's actually been a blessing to Leeds that they did fall away with an extra week to spare because psychologically you can go and re-gather yourself.

"If they had missed out on the last day then it would have been very difficult to pick up and go again. I know they lost to Ipswich on the last day, but there was a real freshness to their play at Derby. They dominated from start to finish."

The Verdict:

Having challenged for automatic promotion all season, Leeds are now under enormous pressure to win the play-offs but they were outstanding against Derby at the weekend.

I think Rosenior could be right. The fact that Leeds missed out on automatic promotion with a game to spare, rather than on the final day of the season, gives the players a chance to regroup and refocus ahead of the play-offs.

I still think Villa are the favourites though, they've been almost unstoppable over the past few weeks, although it would be a very close game between both sides in the final.