Southampton vs Middlesbrough Prediction (29.03.2024)

The Championship is back on Friday with a full book of 12 fixtures. One of those is this clash, where 4th placed Southampton, heading for the playoffs, take on 10th placed Middlesbrough, who are more than likely out of the playoff race, but will be trying to finish in the top half of the table if they can.

Southampton are heading into the playoffs as they look to bounce back into the Premier League at the first time of asking. That still gives them a chance, but fans will be a little disappointed they're nowhere near the automatic spots, after a really strong start to the season. They are nine points back off Leicester in 2nd, that's too big to close.

The positive for Southampton is that they come here on the back of two wins, and are showing signs of returning to much better levels of performance. They're also back to scoring, they've won 4-2 against Sunderland and 4-3 against Birmingham in those two victories, eight goals is very promising.

It's been a very strange season for Middlesbrough. Initially, they were dreadful, then fought to get back into the playoff battle, but since then, they've gradually faded and begin the weekend in 10th with 54 points, that means they are seven off the playoffs, it's a stretch too far, I think, but the top half is definitely there for them to grab.

They come here four unbeaten, a draw in their last game and before that, three wins in a row. The draw was a 0-0 tie at home to Blackburn, they will have been disappointed with that, and those two points dropped could have kept them in the playoff battle. Wins came over Birmingham, QPR and Norwich.

While I respect Middlebrough, the pick for me here is Southampton. A team seemingly on their feet again, the automatic push is gone, but they've a good chance to end the season well and take momentum into the playoffs, I'll take them to start that with a win here.