Pick of the stats: Southampton v Middlesbrough

Southampton and Middlesbrough's promotion destiny will be decided when they meet at St Mary's in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Tuesday (20:00 BST).

The sides played out a goalless draw in the first leg at The Riverside on Saturday and extra-time and penalties may be needed to determine which side progresses to the final at Wembley on 23 May to face either Millwall or Hull City, who play their second leg at The Den on Monday night.

• Southampton are winless in each of their past five matches in all competitions against Middlesbrough (D3 L2) since doing the league double over them in the Premier League in 2016-17 (1-0 at home, 2-1 away).
• In all competitions under Tonda Eckert, Southampton have lost only once at home – a 1-2 loss to Hull City in January – winning 13 of the other 18 matches (D5); their past two games at St Mary's have finished 2-2 against Bristol City and Ipswich Town in April.
• Middlesbrough are unbeaten in each of their past six away games in all competitions, all coming in the Championship (W2 D4), drawing each of their past four on the road, with the past three all ending 2-2.
• For only the third time in second tier play-off history, both first leg semi-final ties finished goalless, though Middlesbrough's xG in the first leg (1.82) was more than the other three sides combined (1.63).
• Southampton are aiming to reach the Championship play-off final for the second time, and first time since 2024, earning promotion with a 1-0 win over Leeds United after also finishing that campaign in fourth place.
• Middlesbrough are looking to reach the Championship play-off final for the first time since losing the 2015 final 2-0 to Norwich City; they've been eliminated in both play-off semi-final appearances since in 2018 and 2023, though drew both of their away legs 0-0 on those occasions.
• Southampton goalkeeper, Daniel Peretz, made four saves in the first leg against Middlesbrough; in the regular season only Carl Rushworth (7.72) and Radek Vítek (7.15) prevented more goals based on Opta's expected goals model than his 6.48 (18 goals conceded excluding own goals, 24.48 expected goals on target conceded).
• Middlesbrough's Matt Targett created more chances than anyone else across both first-leg ties of this season's Championship semi-final play-offs (4), all of which came from open play. Indeed, in the regular Championship season, the only defender to create more chances from open play than Targett (44) was (46).