Southampton meet Middlesbrough in the second leg of their Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Semi-Final tie.
Following a goalless first leg, victory would see Southampton or Middlesbrough advance to the Championship Play-Off Final on Saturday 23 May (time tbc).
A draw however would send the tie to extra time and potentially penalties.
Team News
Southampton have no fresh injury concerns to report as defender, Jack Stephens continues to be a doubt due to a calf injury.
Alex McCarthy (wrist) and Mads Roerslev (Achilles) remain absent.
Middlesbrough have no fresh injury concerns to report.
Hayden Hackney (calf), Alfie Jones (ankle) and Darragh Lenihan (Achilles) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Southampton host Middlesbrough at St Mary’s Stadium on Tuesday 12 May at 8pm BST, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Football channels in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Southampton drew 0-0 in their only previous EFL play-off meeting against Middlesbrough – which came in the first leg of this semi-final tie, whilst they’re now winless in their last five overall meetings against Boro (D3, L2).
- Middlesbrough are making their first EFL play-off visit to Southampton, but are winless in their last five visits to the Saints (D3, L2).
- Each of Southampton’s last two home meetings against Middlesbrough ended in 1-1 draws.
- Southampton won their only previous EFL Play-Off semi-final second-leg played at home, which came in a 3-1 victory against West Brom in 2024 after a 0-0 away draw in the first leg.
- Middlesbrough are yet to win an EFL Play-Off semi-final second-leg away from home after two previous attempts (D1, L1), in which they lost 1-0 at Notts County in 1991 then drew 0-0 at Aston Villa in 2018.
Prediction
Having been utterly outplayed in the first half of the first leg, Southampton were lucky to not concede or it could of been an uphill task even despite their second-half improvement in which they looked more lively but lacked clinical accuracy in their end product.
Middlesbrough though will feel frustrated to have not scored at home especially given the ongoing spygate scandal concerning their hosts, but they can take heart from how they kept a clean sheet even though they did look vulnerable to late counter-attacks after a wasteful first half.
This leg therefore feels too close to call with Southampton still distracted by spygate whilst Boro are fired up to end their play-off second-leg away rut and punish the Saints, but the start will be critical for both teams and I honestly don’t see them being separated until penalties if get more of the same.
I however do think that we should see some goals here but this feels destined for a shootout which would be a sweet way for Boro to cruelly punish Southampton.
Prediction: Southampton 1-1 Middlesbrough (Middlesbrough to win on penalties)
Result: Southampton 2-1 (AET) Middlesbrough (Southampton win 2-1 on aggregate)