Aston Villa v Middlesbrough: The last five meetings

Here, Chris Hile takes a look at the last five meetings between the two sides.

Middlesbrough 0-3 Aston Villa, December 1 2018

When the two sides clashed earlier this season Villa came out 3-0 victors at the Riverside after a ruthless display.

Villa took the lead on 20 minutes when James Chester poked home, after Boro were unable to clear their lines from a Jack Grealish corner.

Tammy Abraham doubled the advantage just past the hour mark, sliding in Yannick Bolasie's low driven cross.

Glen Whelan put the game beyond doubt late on when his 25 yard shot was fumbled into his own net by Darren Randolph.

The result was hailed as one of the best of the season for the Villans, as they pulled off one of their away day results of the campaign.

Play off semi-final second leg: Aston Villa 0-0 Middlesbrough, May 15 2018

Aston Villa booked their place at Wembley following a tense 0-0 draw at Villa Park - meaning that they went through to the final 1-0 on aggregate.

Middlesbrough pushed for that elusive goal to keep them in it, but were unable find it as Stewart Downing came closest with his free kick coming back off the bar.

Sam Johnstone had a scare when he was adjudged to have handled outside the penalty area, but referee Mike Dean let him off with a yellow card.

The result set Villa up against Fulham for the chance to get back into the promised land, but the less said about that the better.

Play off semi-final first leg: Middlesbrough 0-1 Aston Villa, May 12 2018

Villa took a precious slender lead by winning the first leg at the Riverside thanks to a Mile Jedinak header early on.

In a cagey affair, neither side wanted to give themselves a mountain to climb going into the second leg at Villa Park.

Steve Bruce's men made the perfect start thanks to Jedinak nodding in a Jack Grealish corner in the 15th minute.

Snodgrass came close to adding a second when his curling effort was tipped onto the post by Darren Randolph.

The result left Villa defending a vital 1-0 lead going into the second leg at Villa Park.

Middlesbrough 0-1 Aston Villa, December 30 2017

Aston Villa spoilt Tony Pulis' first game in charge thanks to a second half Robert Snodgrass goal back in 2017.

The victory ended Villa's win-less drought as they had failed to claim three points in any of their last six matches, and it was also Bruce's first win ever at the Riverside.

Villa were the team more likely to break the deadlock, and did so in the 75th minute as Robert Snodgrass nodded in an Albert Adomah cross.

The result catapulted Villa above Middlesbrough into seventh place, joint on points with Sheffield United who lay in sixth at the time.

Carabao Cup: Aston Villa 0-2 Middlesbrough, September 19 2017

Villa crashed out of the third round of the Carabao cup thanks too a quickfire Patrick Bamford double.

Tommy Elphick was given his marching orders in the 58th minute for a second bookable offence on the forward leading the ref to point to the spot.

From the resulting spot kick Bamford dusted himself off to fire home past Jed Steer.

The former Chelsea man doubled his tally with a looping header from inside the box just nine minutes later.

The loss ended Villa's cup run, which included a 4-1 hammering of Wigan in the previous round.