CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF FINAL TIPS: 16/1 BET BUILDER FOR HULL VS MIDDLESBROUGH
After just a little bit of drama, the Championship play-off final is finally here as Hull take on… Middlesbrough at Wembley for a place in the Premier League.
A typically hectic period was even more so for this pair but, as the dust settles on a turbulent week, it’s time for the richest game in football.
Hull are aiming for a return to the top flight for the first time since 2018, a period which saw them drop into the third tier, while Boro are targeting the Premier League having been absent since 2017 while suffering two failed play-off bids along the way.
Can they become the second consecutive team from the North East to win the final?
Here’s our 16/1 Bet Builder for the occasion…
HULL VS MIDDLESBROUGH: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Kick-off time: 15:30 BST
- Match date: Sat 23rd May
- Venue: Wembley, London
- Competition: EFL Championship play-off final
- How to watch: Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Football
- Form (last five league): HUL WDWLD / MID LDDWW
- Match market: Click here
BETMGM’S 16/1 CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF FINAL BET BUILDER
- Lewie Coyle to be carded
- Morgan Whittaker to score
- Over 5.5 Middlesbrough corners
Leg 1 – Lewie Coyle to be carded in 90 mins @ 23/10
Discipline on such a huge occasion can be key.
Hull have had the most bookings in the Championship this season with 119 – at least 10 more than anyone else.
In Lewie Coyle they have a player with 13 yellow cards to his name and, in dealing with Middlesbrough’s attacking force, one who may well work himself into the referee's notebook once more.
There were five bookings in last year’s Championship Play-off final and eight the year prior, so there is form for yellows to be handed out on the big occasion.
With 506 shots, only Coventry have had more than Boro, showing their attacking intent and Coyle and the rest of the Tigers’ backline may come under siege against a side that typically come out of the blocks fast.
An early booking will make it a long afternoon for Coyle and the 23/10 is a standout price for a player that has been carded on average every three league games this season.
Leg 2 – Morgan Whittaker to score in 90 mins @ 7/4
Boro’s lack of clinical finishing arguably cost them automatic promotion.
Yet Morgan Whittaker is a striker who turned his career around at the club this season.
No goals in 16 appearances last term, and none until October in this one, led to question marks around the former Plymouth man but he ended the campaign as the top scorer for Kim Hellberg’s side.
His 14 league goals included one in the thumping 4-1 win at Hull back in December and he will be eyeing a huge goal in this one.
He ended the regular campaign with three in his last three and we’re adding the 7/4 for him to score in 90 minutes to our Bet Builder.
Only relegated Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday and Queens Park Rangers shipped more goals than Hull’s 66 this season, so there is every possibility of an opening or two for Whittaker.
All he has to do is take one and send the travelling fans from the North East into raptures.
Leg 3 – Middlesbrough to take over 5.5 corners @ 4/9
With 314, no club has taken more corners than Boro in the Championship.
An average of almost seven per match has enabled them to put defences under pressure for large parts of the season and they will be looking to do similar under the arch on Saturday.
On the contrary, Hull have had 275 corners taken against them in the regular season – fewer than only Oxford, Preston and bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday.
With Boro averaging 6.83 per game and Hull conceding an average of 5.98 per game, 4/9 the Teessiders to take over 5.5 corners in the game seems like a steal.
It rounds off the Bet Builder on an afternoon where a chaotic week just might get even better for the men in red.
BETMGM’S 16/1 CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF FINAL BET BUILDER
- Lewie Coyle to be carded
- Morgan Whittaker to score
- Over 5.5 Middlesbrough corners
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change
