Hull City vs Millwall Championship Play-Off preview, team news and prediction

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Hull City and Millwall meet at the MKM Stadium on Friday night for the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final. Millwall came close to securing automatic promotion to the Premier League, while Hull snatched the final play-off place on the last day of the regular season, finishing sixth after a crucial win.

The bookies are predicting a close affair in this match with Millwall the slight favourites at 13/10 with BetGoodwin while Hull are 19/10 with Sky Bet and Ladbrokes have 2/1 for a draw. You can also find more betting offers at the Mirror Betting Hubs Free Bets offers .

Having spent much of the campaign inside the top six, Sergej Jakirovic will have been frustrated by Hull’s stumble during the run-in. The Tigers went six matches without a win heading into their finale against Norwich City, one of the division’s strongest sides in the second half of 2025-26.

Despite falling behind to the Canaries, Hull rallied to claim a 2-1 victory and made the most of Wrexham being held 2-2 by Middlesbrough. The result saw Hull finish two points clear of the Red Dragons and keep alive their hopes of returning to the Premier League for the first time in nine years.

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Hull won 11 of their 23 league games at the MKM Stadium but are unbeaten in their last four home matches. However, their most recent meeting with Millwall in East Yorkshire ended in a 3-1 defeat on March 7.

Millwall, meanwhile, head into the play-offs in solid form under Alex Neil, having lost just two of their final 13 league games. However, draws away at West Brom and Leicester during the closing weeks proved costly, leaving them one point behind Ipswich Town in the battle for second.

The Lions did their part on the final day with a 2-0 win over Oxford United, though they also ended the season with two defeats in four home games at The Den.

Away from home, though, Millwall were outstanding. They posted the best away record in the Championship, taking 41 points from 23 matches, and boasted the division’s meanest defence on the road, conceding just 24 goals overall — the best total in the league.

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John Egan is expected to keep his place at the heart of Hull’s defence despite being taken off at half-time against Norwich.

Paddy McNair is pushing for involvement, while Kieran Dowell, Lewis Koumas and Kyle Joseph provide alternative options in attack. Cody Drameh, Amir Hadziahmetovic and Eliot Matazo are all ruled out with injuries.

For Millwall, Alex Neil is optimistic Josh Coburn will recover from a hip issue in time to be included in the squad, although Mihailo Ivanovic is still likely to lead the line. Neil was able to rotate in the second half of the win over Oxford, meaning an unchanged XI remains a strong possibility.

In midfield, Derek Mazou-Sacko offers an option if Barry Bannan is rotated, while Billy Mitchell is also in contention after getting 29 minutes on his return from injury last time out.

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