There’s all to play for in the Championship play-off semi-final second-legs after both games finished goalless for only the third time ever.
Millwall and Hull City lock horns at The Den on Monday night with the winner progressing through to Wembley where they will await the victor of Wednesday’s duel between Southampton and Middlesbrough at St Mary’s.
Before diving into the key stats and storylines ahead of the semi-final second-legs, here’s a quick snapshot of each club’s record in the second-tier play-offs:
Second-tier play-off records
| Club | Play-Off Campaigns | Play-Off Finals | Promotions via the Play-Offs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millwall | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Southampton | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Middlesbrough | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Hull City | 2 | 2 | 2 |
READ: Championship play-off semi-final preview – Who will make it to Wembley?
Millwall vs Hull City
- Millwall: have the opportunity to reach their first ever Championship play-off final at the fourth attempt.
- Hull City: are bidding to win their third successive match at The Den, which would be more wins in their last three visits (3) than their previous 27 combined (2).
The first-leg ended goalless but it wasn’t without incident after Millwall’s Ryan Leonard’s 85th minute goal was ruled out for a foul.
Millwall are bidding to make it fourth time lucky as they attempt to reach their first ever Championship play-off final after three prior semi-final failures in 1990-91, 1993-94, and 2001-02.
Millwall head into the game unbeaten in six (W3 D3), which includes back-to-back wins at The Den. In total they’ve won 13, drawn three, and lost seven of their 23 home games this season.
The Lions have kept the most clean sheets (19 – including the play-off first-leg) in the Championship this season, 11 of which have come on home soil (also a league high), which is a strong foundation to build on ahead of the deceive second-leg in front of their own fans.
Hull City, who won the play-offs in 2008 and 2016, are attempting to become the first team to finish 6th and then reach the play-off finals since Derby in 2018-19. History is against them, with only four 6th-placed teams advancing to the final in the last 21 years.
Hull won 10 of their 23 away games in the regular season, with only Coventry and Millwall carding more (both 11), however, Sergej Jakirovic’s side are winless in their last five on the road (D2 L3).
Yet, the Tigers have won their last two games at the Den – and unbeaten there in four – including a 3-1 win in December. If they win again on Monday they will have more wins (3) in their last three visits than their prior 27 combined (2).
One player to keep an eye on in the second-leg is Hull’s Kyle Joseph who scored twice and assisted once across the two regular season clashes, including a brace at the Den.
Southampton vs Middlesbrough
- Southampton: are unbeaten in 20 games and looking to reach the Championship play-off final for the second time in three seasons.
- Middlesbrough: are looking to go six games unbeaten against the Saints as they seek their first Championship play-off final since 2015.
Somehow the first-leg ended goalless. Middlesbrough, fuelled by the controversy of Spygate 2.0, roared out of the blocks, completely overwhelming Southampton with 17 shots to zero in a one-sided first-half as you’ll ever see. But, crucially, they couldn’t find the back of the net.
The shell-shocked Saints had a firm look in the mirror at the interval, and put in a much improved second-half showing, and could even have snuck a win themselves. Yet, the fact is we are still all-level ahead of the second-leg on the south coast.
Southampton are now unbeaten in 20 matches and have won 13 of their 18 home games in all competitions under boss Tonda Eckert, losing just once during that run. They have the experience of winning the play-offs two years ago, during which they drew 0-0 away at West Brom in the semi-final first-leg, before getting the job done 3-2 in the return fixture at St Mary’s.
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, are aiming to reach their first play-off final since 2015 and are trying to avoid a third straight play-off semi-final defeat after exits in 2018 and 2023.
Despite missing a clinical edge in the first leg, Boro can take encouragement from their performance, while they are now unbeaten in five games against Southampton (D3 L2), and have not lost away from home in six matches (W2 D4) since mid-February, although each of their last four on the road have ended in draws.
Another fiery contest awaits on Tuesday.
