It's two northern clubs who will battle it out in the richest game in football. Hull City only banked their play-off spot on the final day of the Championship regular season. The Tigers then lined up as outsiders against Millwall before claiming a 2-0 second leg victory at The Den to book their place in the Wembley final.
Sergej Jakirovic has complained that his team have suffered from the opposition switch, with Southampton originally booking their place in the final before being evicted due to spying on opponents. It's now Middlesbrough who will line up at Wembley and they are firm favourites to get the job done and book their place in the Premier League.
Middlesbrough v Hull City Betting Markets
Middlesbrough weren't in the Championship play-off final until earlier this week. Kim Hellberg would have thought it was season over after a dramatic 2-1 defeat at St Mary's. However, it's now the Teesside side who not only line up at Wembley Stadium but do so as strong favourites to reach the Premier League.
According to the latest odds, Boro have a 55% chance of winning the Wembley showdown in normal time. They're afforded a 70% prospect of booking their place in the top flight whether this is done in normal time, extra-time or indeed penalties. Perhaps their odds are too short considering the disrupted preparation for the big game.
After all, Middlesbrough were only seven points better off than Hull City in the final standings. They won twenty-two of their forty-six matches, drawing fourteen times and losing on ten occasions. The Tigers claimed twenty-one victories although they had just ten draws and fifteen defeats along the way.
Sergej Jakirovic has done very well to engineer a top six finish although they showed themselves to be defensively resolute against Millwall in the two semi-final clashes. After a goalless draw at home to the Lions, the Tigers were then able to secure a 2-0 victory at The Den despite being the big outsiders.
The two teams met twice back in December and there were mixed outcomes. In the earlier part of the month, Boro came away with a 4-1 victory and were actually four goals to the good by half-time. However, it was a different story at the Riverside a few weeks later when City scored with their only shot on target to claim the spoils.
The objective for Hull will be to keep things tight and they have been defensively strong in recent encounters. Therefore, the draw could come into the reckoning here and we could see it being a typically tight affair considering what's at stake.
Goals Under/Over
The Under 2.5 Goals odds are trading as slightly shorter than Over 2.5 Goals. Last year, we saw Sunderland score a dramatic late winner to fend off Sheffield United 2-1. Previously to this, there were five consecutive Championship play-off finals where two goals or less were scored. This is a reflection of the fact that games are often tight when there's so much at stake.
In 2024, Southampton overcame Leeds 1-0 and that was preceded by a 1-1 draw between Luton and Coventry. Perhaps we'll see defences on top once again. Hull played out a goalless draw at home to Millwall before winning 2-0 at The Den. There was a similar story between Middlesbrough and Southampton. No goals were notched at the Riverside before a 1-1 draw was played out at St Mary's before an extra-time winner was scored.
BTTS
There's little to split the BTTS Yes and BTTS No betting odds. Middlesbrough have been involved in quite a few BTTS Yes clashes recently and that includes the 1-1 draw at St Mary's. They came out the traps flying to score an early opener, with the Teesside club also scoring two in a 2-2 draw at Wrexham on the final day of the regular season.
Defensively, Kim Hellberg's side haven't kept too many clean sheets. There was that goalless draw at the Riverside although the only other recent shutout of note took place against an already-relegated Sheffield Wednesday side. They will surely approach this clash from an attacking point-of-view.
As for Hull, both of their semi-final games against Millwall were BTTS No. Previously to this, the Tigers were involved in five consecutive matches where both teams found the net. Three of these games ended in a 2-1 scoreline and perhaps the game at Wembley will open up. However, we're still leaning towards at least one team failing to score and perhaps even extra-time could loom on the horizon. The tense element to the game can't be underestimated.
First Goalscorer
Mohamed Belloumi broke the deadlock at The Den and it was the Algerian's third goal since Boxing Day. However, it was Joe Gelhardt who added a second against Millwall and the former Leeds United player could be the man for the big occasion. The forward has fifteen on the board for the season and had a particularly good run of goals between mid October and early December.
Oliver McBurnie will be on penalty duties for the Tigers and the former Sheffield United forward is likely to give Luke Ayling and Dael Fry plenty of problems with his physical approach. The forward has eighteen for the season after notching twice against Norwich in a game which earned Hull a chance in the play-offs.
Hayden Hackney might be available after recovering from injury for Middlesbrough and the midfielder offers a lively threat in the middle of the park. It was team-mate Riley McGree who opened the scoring at St Mary's and can also break into good positions, with David Strelec having enjoyed a nice run of goals leading into the play-offs.
The Slovakian notched against Ipswich, Watford and Wrexham as the regular season drew to a close, with Tommy Conway likely to be tasked with spot kick duties and he recently scored five goals across a six-game period.
