Middlesbrough face scary Finn Azaz possibility v Southampton | OneFootball

Finn Azaz has been unplayable at times this season, and Middlesbrough will fear him exhibiting that against them in the play-offs

The Championship play-off semi-finals get underway on Friday night, with arguably the tie of the entire postseason slate in the EFL so far kicking off on Saturday lunchtime.

Southampton make the trip to Middlesbrough for the first leg of their semi-finals, looking to ride the wave of momentum from a 19-game unbeaten league run to end the campaign, which transformed them from a mid-table side to one banging on the door of the top two towards the end of April.

In the opposite corner, Boro have been one of the more exciting sides to watch in the second-tier since late November when Kim Hellberg took the reins, and a wasteful run in front of goal in March that bled into the start of April was all that was stopping them from finishing in the top two.

It's going to be an exciting 180 minutes of action over the coming three days, even more if it ends up heading to extra time, and it's likely going to be decided by such fine margins.

Both sides will have their go-to men to try and change the game, and one of Tonda Eckert's gamebreakers is someone that Middlesbrough know all too well.

Middlesbrough will be aware of Finn Azaz's threat in the play-off semi-finals

Finn Azaz moved on from Middlesbrough this past summer after spending a season-and-a-half at the Riverside. Southampton spent an initial £12 million to acquire his services, and it got a mixed reaction from Boro fans.

The Irishman has scored 12 and assisted 11 in the 2024/25 campaign, his first and only full year at Middlesbrough. Those are fantastic numbers, but there were frustrations among the fanbase that those numbers were boosted by good performances against poor teams, rather than being consistently great against fellow play-off challengers.

Of his 12 goals, eight were scored against teams who finished in the bottom eight, including braces in consecutive games against Luton Town and Oxford United in November 2024.

Ultimately, though, the 25-year-old was still good enough to score those goals and provide assists, and Middlesbrough knew the threat he possessed. If he could string together more performances like those against top teams, he'd be unstoppable.

At Southampton, that's what he's done. The majority of his goal contributions since arriving at St Mary's have come in big games, proving he belongs on the big stage.

In the league, he netted twice against a Charlton Athletic side who, at the time, were battling near the top. He's scored goals in wins over Norwich City and Wrexham towards the end of the season to help boost them into the top six, and above all, he's excelled in the FA Cup run, too, stealing the show at Wembley and scoring a screamer to put the Saints ahead momentarily against Manchester City.

When he's on it this season, there arguably hasn't been a better attacking midfielder in the division, and Boro will hope they can catch him on an off-day in their two meetings over the next week.

Middlesbrough may hold the key to victory if they can keep Finn Azaz quiet

While it seems a bit of an obvious statement that, when a player of Azaz's influence isn't performing at the peak of his powers, Southampton aren't at their best, it really is emphasised when looking at the Saints' record when he's contributing to goals compared to it without.

There weren't many standouts in the side under Will Still, and the Irishman endured a terrible start to life on the South Coast under him, failing to score or assist until Tonda Eckert's first game against QPR.

Then, during the rough patch in December, which bled into the New Year, Southampton failed to win in seven league games, and Azaz failed to register a goal involvement throughout that time, either.

The team being in good form has coincided at times with the 25-year-old's form picking up, too, so if Boro can keep him quiet, or at least hope he's not firing as freely as he has been at times throughout the campaign, they may hold the key to dumping Southampton out of the promotion hunt.