Preview: Hull City vs Millwall - prediction, team news, lineups

Hull City and Millwall square off in the first leg of their Championship playoff semi-final on Friday night.

While Millwall narrowly missed out on automatic promotion to the Premier League, Hull secured the final playoff spot and sixth place in the Championship table with victory on the final day of the campaign.

Match preview

Having spent much of the season in the top six, Sergej Jakirovic would have been immensely frustrated with Hull's results during the run-in.

The Tigers put together a six-match winless streak ahead of their closing fixture against Norwich City, one of the form teams in the second half of 2025-26.

Nevertheless, despite trailing to the Canaries, Hull battled back to secure a 2-1 victory, taking full advantage of Wrexham being held to a 2-2 draw by Middlesbrough.

As a result, Hull finished two points ahead of the Red Dragons to remain on course for a return to the Premier League for the first time in nine years.

Although Hull only won 11 of their 23 league games at the MKM Stadium, they are unbeaten in their last four fixtures at the ground.

However, when they faced Millwall on March 7, the East Yorkshire outfit succumbed by a 3-1 scoreline.

© Imago

Meanwhile, Alex Neil will have few complaints with a Millwall side that lost just two of their final 13 encounters.

That said, only securing draws away at West Bromwich Albion and Leicester City during the run-in ultimately led to them finishing one point adrift of Ipswich Town in the race for second position.

Millwall did what they required on the final day, posting a 2-0 triumph over Oxford United, but they ended the regular season with two defeats in four games at The Den.

On a more positive note, the Londoners recorded the best away record in the division, collecting a magnificent 41 points from their 23 fixtures.

Furthermore, they conceded just the 24 goals, the best such return in the Championship.

Hull City Championship form:

Millwall Championship form:

Team News

© Imago / IMAGO / Focus Images

Despite being withdrawn at half time against Norwich, John Egan is expected to remain in the centre of the Hull defence.

Paddy McNair remains an option to come into the team, while Kieran Dowell, Lewis Koumas and Kyle Joseph are alternatives in the final third.

Cody Drameh, Amir Hadziahmetovic and Eliot Matazo are all sidelined through injury.

Neil is hopeful that Josh Coburn will be able to shake off a hip injury to return to the Millwall squad. However, Mihailo Ivanovic should keep his spot down the middle of the attack.

The Scot was able to rest players during the second half against Oxford, leading to the possibility of an unchanged starting lineup.

Derek Mazou-Sacko is an alternative to Barry Bannan in midfield, as his Billy Mitchell who got a much-needed 29 minutes under his belt after injury last time out.

Hull City possible starting lineup:

Pandur; Coyle, Egan, Hughes, Giles; Slater, Crooks; Belloumi, Gelhardt, Millar; McBurnie

Millwall possible starting lineup:

Patterson; Leonard, Crama, Cooper, Sturge; Bannan, De Norre; Azeez, Neghli, Ballo; Ivanovic

We say: Hull City 1-1 Millwall

Given the manner of how Hull reached the playoffs, they may feel that the pressure is off at a time when Millwall have been left ruing results during the run-in. Nevertheless, Millwall have impressed on their travels this season, leading us to predict a hard-fought draw at the MKM Stadium.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.