The second English Championship playoff final to be played this week is the second leg of the tie between Aston Villa and Middlesbrough.
The winner of the match will progress to Wembley to play either Fulham or Derby County in the final, with a place in the Premier League at stake.
Aston Villa lost their final Championship match of the season 1-0 at Millwall but it made little difference to their final position in the league table. The main thing was looking forward to this tie and Aston Villa will be full of confidence following the 1-0 win at Middlesbrough.
Trends show that was Aston Villa’s 5th clean sheet in their last nine Championship matches and they know another one in this game will be enough to send them through to the playoff final.
Aston Villa have lost just one of their last six Championship games and have been in good form at home. Bruce’s team have won eight of their last eleven home league games and have lost just one of their last fifteen on home soil.
However, Aston Villa have won just one of their last eight home matches against Middlesbrough and will want to change that statistic.
Middlesbrough have been left with it all to do following the 1-0 home loss in the first leg. Tony Pulis would have been hoping to take a lead with him to Villa Park but now his team must do things the hard way.
The defeat to Aston Villa in the first leg is Middlesbrough’s only defeat in their last five matches and it came at the wrong time. However, their away form is decent and trends show Middlesbrough have lost only one of their last seven away Championship games. Picking up victories has been a problem and Middlesbrough have won only two of those seven matches.
They have scored in each of those seven games and Pulis will be hoping they can find the back of the net again in this one while maintaining a clean sheet, something they have done only once during that run of seven away matches.
Looking ahead to the team news and Aston Villa will be without the injured defensive duo of Neil Taylor and Axel Tuanzebe. With Ahmed Elmohamady struggling with an injury from the first leg, Birkir Bjarnason may need to slot into the right-back position.
Middlesbrough could call upon forward Patrick Bamford to get the goals they need to win this tie and that could mean a place on the bench for Britt Assombalonga. Central defender Daniel Ayala is rated as doubtful and Dael Fry could start the match.
Middlesbrough have no choice but to try and win this match but they are going to find it tough at Villa Park. Middlesbrough have shown recently they can score goals away from home but keeping Aston Villa at bay could prove problematic. Aston Villa should come out on top in this game and seal their place in the final.