EPL: Ajayi, Aribo, Maja in playoffs battle

The first leg of the Championship playoff semi-finals will begin on Sunday (today), with two Nigerian players competing for a spot in the English Championship play-off final.

The players are Semi Ajayi, Josh Maja and Joe Aribo.

The duo Ajayi and Maja are expected to be in action when West Brom take on Southampton who parades Aribo at the Hawthorns as they both respectively continue their bid for promotion to the elite division.

These two teams both prevailed in their final matches of the regular campaign as they finished in fifth and fourth position in the standings respectively.

The two players have enjoyed contrasting fortunes at their clubs this season.

While Aribo has featured regularly for Southampton scoring four times in 37 games with an assist, Ajayi who struggled for regular playing berth at West Brom lately

after starring at the Africa Cup of Nations for Nigeria has scored twice making one assist in 26 appearances from his defensive position

His compatriot at the Hawthorns, Maja has not been impressive as well as he has scored three times in 14 games in all competitions.

The forward last scored a goal for the Baggies was against Leicester City in December 2, 2023.

The winner of the two-legged contest will face either Leeds United or Norwich City in the final.

The playoff champions will join Leicester City and Ipswich Town in the Premier League next season.

Meanwhile, Southampton manager Russell Martin says there is “still more to come” from his side going into the Championship play-off semi-final first leg against West Bromwich Albion.

The Saints, who have already done the league double over Albion this season, take on Carlos Corberan’s Baggies at The Hawthorns looking for another positive result to take into next Friday’s second leg.

After beating West Brom 2-1 at St Mary’s in November, Saints won 2-0 in February’s reverse fixture – on a night when home boss Corberan was sent off for touching the ball while it was still in play.

“We played brilliantly at West Brom,” Martin told BBC Radio Solent. “If we can reach those levels of performance again then I will be very happy.

“It’s a big test on Sunday. It’s going to be a tough game. But, in the play-offs, you wouldn’t expect anything else.”

After three consecutive Championship defeats to shut the door on any lingering hopes of automatic promotion, Martin’s side were victorious on the final day of the regular league season with a 2-1 victory over third-placed Leeds United at Elland Road.

“We need to build on the pressure and intensity we brought to the game at Leeds,” Martin added. “There’s still more to come from us.”

Although Saints ended 12 points ahead of fifth-placed West Brom even though they could only finish fourth, 10 points behind champions Leicester City and nine behind Ipswich Town.

Albion also lost three straight games before prevailing on the last day.