Often described as the most lucrative game in world football, this year Middlesbrough and Norwich City contest the Championship playoff final at Wembley for a place in the Premier League and an estimated £120m windfall.

Norwich were only relegated a year ago and are looking for an instant return to the top flight, while Boro have been in the second tier for the last six seasons.

Boro

Aitor Karanka's side were on course for a top-two finish going into the final two games of the season, but a last-gasp defeat at Fulham on the penultimate weekend, followed by a goalless draw at home to Brighton & Hove Albion meant a fourth-placed finish and a playoff semi-final against surprise package Brentford.

In the first leg at Griffin Park, the hosting Bees did much of the pressing, but a deflected late winner from Fernando Amorebieta saw Boro snatch the upper hand ahead of the second leg at the Riverside Stadium.

Karanka's side had the best home record of anyone in the Championship during the regular season, so few were surprised when they comfortably won the second leg 3-0 for a 5-1 aggregate victory.

As well as their excellent home record, Boro had the best defence in the Championship this season and their clean sheet in last week's second leg was their 22nd in the league this term.

The Teesside club have only appeared once in the Championship playoff final and they came through 2-1 over two legs against Chelsea in 1988. However, they have failed to win in four appearances at Wembley.

Recent form: WWLDWW

Norwich

While Boro were there or thereabouts in the automatic-promotion race for much of the season, Norwich's surge towards the top two was largely down to their resurgence in the second half of the season under Alex Neil.

They won 15 of their last 22 games in the regular season to end the campaign in third place, and that meant a tasty playoff semi-final against arch-enemies Ipswich Town.

The first leg was a tense affair at Portman Road, with the two goals in a 1-1 draw coming within minutes of each other at the end of the first half.

Norwich failed to assert their authority down the A140 in Suffolk and the first half of the second leg was much the same as Ipswich continued to frustrate the hosts.

However, not long into the second half, Ipswich centre-back Christophe Berra blatantly handled on the line to see red and gift Norwich a penalty. That swung the tie in the Canaries' favour and they went on to win 4-2 on aggregate.

Neil's side have only lost one of their last 13 games, winning eight, but that one defeat was ironically at home to Boro in a crunch game on April 17 as both sides chased a top-two spot.

Like their opponents, Norwich have been in just one second-tier playoff final, but they suffered a cruel defeat on penalties to Birmingham City 13 years ago at the Millennium Stadium, while Wembley was being redeveloped.

Recent form: WLDWDW

Team News

Boro have the Championship Player of the Year, Patrick Bamford, in their ranks, but the Chelsea loanee missed the second leg against Brentford with an ankle injury and the problem could see him miss out again.

If he is absent, Spanish striker Kike could continue in attack after netting in the second against the Bees. Elsewhere, Karanka is unlikely to make many other changes after their convincing win over Brentford.

Neil has no new injury concerns, but he is able to welcome back Lewis Grabban from suspension. The striker saw red for an off-the-ball punch against Rotherham United on the penultimate weekend of the season and has had to sit out the last three games.

He is unlikely to be included in the starting XI, but his availability from the bench could prompt Neil to start two strikers instead of one. In both legs against Ipswich, Cameron Jerome started in a lone role, but Gary Hooper could now join him in attack with Grabban's fresh legs available once more.

Boro possible starting lineup:
Konstantopoulos; Whitehead, Ayala, Gibson, Friend; Clayton, Leadbitter; Adomah, Tomlin, Vossen; Kike

Norwich possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Whittaker, Martin, Bassong, Olsson; Redmond, Howson, Tettey, Johnson; Hoolahan; Jerome

Head To Head

If past results counted for anything, then Boro would be feeling pretty good about themselves as they won both regular-season meetings without conceding.

Up at the Riverside in November, Norwich were blown away 4-0, while at Carrow Road last month, Boro defended well for the majority to mean that Alexander Tettey's early own goal was enough for an away win.

In fact, Norwich have won only one of their last 12 matches against Middlesbrough in all competitions. This will be the 51st encounter between the two teams, with Boro claiming victory on 21 occasions, while Norwich have come out on top 16 times and there have been 14 draws.

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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:

We say: Boro 1-2 Norwich

Despite Boro's better head-to-head record, Norwich's recent experience in the top flight might just give them an edge on the day. There is very little separating the two sides and extra time and penalties might well be needed, but those in yellow and green could be the ones celebrating at the end of a very long season.