Another weekend in the Championship draws to a close on Sunday afternoon when struggling Middlesbrough host a fast improving Hull City side in the front of the TV cameras to get the day of football underway.
Things have not gone to plan for Boro under Jonathan Woodgate thus far and they need to start picking up some points soon. Hull City don’t have that problem but three points would push them further up the league.
Middlesbrough
When Middlesbrough opened up the season on that Friday night at Kenilworth Road with a 3-3 draw everyone left thinking that this would be a much more fluent, free flowing and goalscoring side under Jonathan Woodgate, but at the minute it would seem as though that is something of a false dawn. In 15 matches since then they have found the back of the net just 10 times and have only won twice all season.
They go into this match without a win in nine outings dating back to September and with teams around them picking up after changing managers, something is going to have to give up at the Riverside. Either they need to find a way to start scoring goals, even if that means taking more risks, or a change may need to be made in the management department. Boro have only scored five goals in this winless run so the issue shouldn’t take too long to identify.
Hull City
While there is a lot of doom and gloom around the Riverside Stadium at present, there isn’t so much at Hull City, at least on the pitch anyway. They went into the international break off the back of a 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion which is no disgrace, but prior to that they had won three on the bounce and were building up a head of steam. Their 3-0 win at Fulham in the last of that three match run really caught the eye.
Hull actually have a decent record on the road, which isn’t really a surprise with the three they have up front. They are perfectly suited to play on the counter attack or in the opposing final third and have work horses in the middle of the park who can get the ball back in dangerous areas. If there is a concern it comes in the form of a defence which can leak a few more goals than is ideal but results wise they are going along nicely enough.
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Team News
Middlesbrough goalkeeper Darren Randolph showed no ill effects of his recent injury during the international break so he is expected to start in goal for the home side. A change might be required up front.
Hull City will be without Josh Magennis who completes a four-match ban in this game while Norbert Balogh and Jon Toral are both out. Stephen Kingsley is back in training and could be involved in some capacity.
Betting
It is hard not to like Hull City here. It is just what capacity we take them in and I think I’ll go with the Asian lines for a bit of draw cover as it is still a juicy enough price, and it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if this one does end all square even though it is a result which neither side wants. I just don’t have faith in Middlesbrough finding the net enough, and in truth I’m not convinced they’ll contain Hull either.
The Tigers are perfectly set up to play on the counter attack and do some real damage with Kamil Grosicki and Jarrod Bowen and I expect them to be able to adopt the style they enjoy. The longer Hull keep Middlesbrough out the more the home crowd are likely to turn on the hosts too and then it could become a little chaotic for Middlesbrough. I’ll take the visitors here.
Tips
PUSH – Back Hull City (0AH) to beat Middlesbrough for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfred
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