It's been quite the week in the EFL Championship, but at the end of it all comes the big playoff final where Hull City will face Middlesbrough at Wembley Stadium for a place in the 2026-27 Premier League.
Southampton beat Middlesbrough in the semifinals but were expelled from the playoffs after being found to have spied on their opponents ahead of the fixture, with Middlesbrough taking their place.
Hull have enjoyed a much smoother path to Wembley, following their 2-0 playoff semifinal victory against Millwall. Like Boro, Hull haven't been in the Premier League since their relegation in the 2016-17 season,
Here's everything you need to know about Saturday's big match:
How to watch:
The game will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football in the UK, Paramount+ in the U.S., FanCode in India and beIN Sports 2 in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Saturday, May 23 at 3:30 p.m. BST (10.30 am ET, 8.00 pm IST, 12:30 am AEST, Sunday).
Venue: Wembley Stadium, London
Referee: Jarred Gillett
VAR: Stuart Attwell
Injury and Team News:
Hull City
Eliot Matazo, M: knee, OUT
Cody Drameh, D: muscle, OUT
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough have a fully fit squad to choose from.
After "spygate," it's now down to the football
Back to the football field, then, after a week of drama in the boardrooms. Southampton are out, Middlesbrough are in, and in all this, Hull are perhaps disadvantaged. They've not had long to prepare for Middlesbrough in this game. Even when the case was ongoing, Hull would've had to train for two starkly different scenarios, depending on whether the verdict went the way of Southampton or Middlesbrough. Middlesbrough, meanwhile, have continued to train even after their loss in the semifinal second leg against Southampton.
This will be the third meeting between the two sides this season, with both teams winning away from home. Middlesbrough went to Hull and won 4-1 in early December, before losing 1-0 to Hull at the Riverside later that month. Hull have punched well above their weight all season, and will have to do it once more against a Boro side that have blown hot and cold in recent months.
Having looked favourites for automatic promotion in mid-February, Boro have only won four games out of 17 since then. While not in the best form, they did finish seven points above Hull in the regular season in the Championship.
And Hull's form hasn't been much better in that time. They have won just six of the last 17 matches that they've played since mid-February.