Southampton will meet Middlesbrough over two legs in the 2025/26 Championship Play-Offs, in a matchup already being marred with controversy.
The away side have been accused of sending a first-team analyst to spy on teeside training on Thursday morning, a situation the EFL are reviewing for potential misconduct.
The Saints must not let all the talk cause their focus to drift – this is what they must do to come on top over both legs.
Last season, eventual play-off winners Sunderland lost their final five games of their league campaign, before beating Coventry City over two legs and Sheffield United at Wembley.
Southampton are on a 19-game unbeaten run and enter the play-offs in the strongest form, unbeaten in the league since 17 January, while Middlesbrough won just two of their final ten Championship games, but history suggests this has meant very little in the past.
It’s certainly not going to be a quiet tie. Middlesbrough fans feel aggrieved over the alleged Southampton ‘spygate’ incident, all the while holding a vendetta against Finn Azaz, who left the club for the Saints last summer.
Tonda Eckert’s side must stay laser-focused on the task at hand while understanding the atmosphere they are about to walk into at the Riverside Stadium.
They’ve dealt with a raucous Fratton Park on derby day comfortably, gone to Wembley and gone toe-to-toe with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City – this in theory shouldn’t be anything hotter than they’ve had to handle so far.
But it’s the play-offs – absolutely anything can happen.
Ideally, Southampton will travel to Middlesbrough and set up to play on the counter. Tonda Eckert’s side is never going to sit back in a low block and simply try not to lose the game – but they have to be effective.
When asked if he’d take a draw from the first leg, Eckert said, “No, that’s not the way we approach games and never has been. We will go there to win, do everything to win, and see where we stand.”
If one thing can be learnt from Tonda Eckert’s tenure at Southampton thus far, which has seen him become only the second ever head coach to win the Championship Manager of the Month award three months in succession, it’s that he never goes into games with any intentions other than to win.
He will have analysed Middlesbrough excessively (maybe too excessively, following the latest controversy), and given his players the precise details for how they need to win the tie.
As long as the Saints don’t overthink it, they should be bringing a favourable result back to St Mary’s. From then on, they will hope to dictate their own fate.
It’s a tie too tough to predict – both teams have good managers with tactical ideas and man-management qualities that will take it all the way.
It will come down to the moments in front of goal between both teams, and which players want to take them.
Whoever does will get the great chance to bring out a famous binocular celebration – which their fans will cherish for years to come!
