It has been a Championship weekend of surprise results and everything bunching up at both ends of the table, and that could continue on Monday evening when the last fixture takes place at the Riverside, as Middlesbrough host Nottingham Forest.
Boro have watched on and seen themselves drop into the bottom three after the results on Saturday while Nottingham Forest have been teams around them pick up points and they will be out to do likewise here.
Middlesbrough
This season has been a struggle bordering on a write-off from start to finish and unless they do something dramatic soon, they will end it in League 1 because they are a club in freefall at the minute. The transition from anti-football under Tony Pulis to a more possession based outlook under Jonathan Woodgate was always going to be a lengthy one, but they would still have expected a better return than what they have got.
The big issue for Middlesbrough has been scoring goals. They found three of them on the opening day of the campaign, which offered up a lot of positivity but that was misplaced as they only have 34 in total from their 35 matches. They don’t concede too many so if they can sort it out in front of goal they might be ok but they are without a win in nine, and haven’t registered a goal in any of their last three matches. Their form is a big concern.
Nottingham Forest
When the campaign began there was a lot of talk about Nottingham Forest being outside promotion chances under Sabri Lamouchi. Some big players were brought into the club in the summer and to be fair to them they have lived up to that billing. They go into this match in fourth in the table and a win would move them to within six points of the automatic promotion places, which with 10 games to go is right where they want to be.
Only Leeds United have conceded fewer goals in the Championship this term than Forest. Their style is pretty clear. They like to invite sides onto them and then hit them on the counter and it is a plan that works very well, especially away from the City Ground. They are the third best team on their travels and given the style they adopt, that is very much no surprise. In recent weeks they have looked a little more dangerous going forward which is a positive.
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Team News
Middlesbrough have some injuries to some key players. Daniel Ayala, Patrick Roberts and Dael Fry have been out for a while and remain that way, while Ashley Fletcher and George Friend are doubts for the game.
Nottingham Forest have a few issues themselves. Samba Sow and Tendayi Darikwa are both definitely out and Nuna Da Costa could also miss the game. Sammy Ameobi and Lewis Grabban are expected to be available for the match though.
Betting
I’m with Nottingham Forest here. Middlesbrough look a right mess at the minute and while they are not getting beaten by much, a lot of that is down to opponents not taking their chances against them. The bigger concern is how little they are creating. In this three game scoreless run they have played the bottom two and registered one shot on target – against two sides who have shipped 131 goals between them. That is a huge concern.
If they are creating nothing against them, you wonder what they’ll create against a defensively astute and hard to break down Forest outfit. I suspect the answer will be not much unless Jonathan Woodgate completely changes things, which is unlikely. There is more than enough in the Forest attacking unit to trouble Middlesbrough so Forest on the draw no bet lines that are around looks a really good play. One goal could easily be enough to bring home the dough but it should be enough to ensure at least a push.
Tips
PUSH – Back Nottingham Forest (0AH) to beat Middlesbrough for a 5/10 stake at 1.93 with Bet365
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