ABC Tips

Morgan Whittaker was really bright in the 0-0 draw between the sides last season, creating three chances and taking on three efforts. Boro as a whole struggled to convert any of the chances they created (21), though Whittaker is certainly the most likely Boro player to register a goal contribution given his strong seasonal numbers.

Whittaker netted twice in the most recent league meeting between these sides, which Boro won 4-0 with 22 shots and an xG of 2.27, accounting for two of the 14 goals he’s scored in the Championship this season. No Boro player has netted more goals than Whittaker in the Championship this season, and he also sits joint top of the assist charts with seven to his name - level with Hayden Hackney, who is a doubt for this fixture.

Whitaker’s total haul sits at 20 goal contributions across his 35 starts in the Championship, only Oli McBurnie (24) and Zan Vipotnik (26) have registered more goal contributions in the Championship this term than Whittaker, making him an obvious threat in this second leg.

Only Matt Crooks (13) has picked up more yellow cards in the Championship this season than Flynn Downes (12). He’s always been quite an aggressive player, as further shown by the 12 cards he picked up across just 25 starts in the Premier League for Southampton last season.

Downes has been cautioned in each of his last three Championship games, including picking up a yellow card in the first leg meeting between these sides last week which ended 0-0. Downes committed two fouls in that game and struggled with Aidan Morris in particular - who was fouled three times in the encounter.

Southampton committed 12 fouls in the first leg, matching that amount in the most recent league meeting between the sides. Downes was fortunate to avoid a caution in that game, committing two fouls overall, while Southampton picked up four cards in total, suggesting that the Saints could struggle with the clever movement of this Boro side again in this second leg clash.

No Middlesbrough player has picked up more yellow cards in the Championship this season than Luke Ayling (10). His experience has been vital to Kim Hellberg’s side this season as he showed in the first leg where he was arguably one of Boro’s best players.

He was actually fouled four times in that game, committing one himself, but our focus is on Ayling to pick up a caution here. His experience does lead him to be more frustrated than most in the Boro squad as he’s been in this position quite a few times before, and knows the effect it can have on a squad if they miss out after all the hard work across the season.

Ayling has picked up 13% of the total cards that Boro have collected in the Championship this term, which is a pretty significant total. He’ll have to try and manage the threat of Leo Scienza, one of the strongest players in the Championship when it comes to winning fouls (3.65 per 90).