Yet another three game week in the Sky Bet Championship season gets going on Friday when two sides who have an eye on reaching the top six this term meet when Blackburn Rovers host Middlesbrough at Ewood Park.
These two sides are kind of going in opposite directions at the minute so Blackburn will be keen to end their slump and get back on track while Middlesbrough will be looking to continue the good form they have shown recently.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels with the build-up getting started at 7.30pm ahead of the 8pm kick off.
Blackburn Rovers
It seems that things are rarely dull at Ewood Park but the last couple of months have been extraordinary even by the standards set at Blackburn Rovers. John Eustace looked to have them on course for a spot in the top six but then out of the blue he upped sticks and went and joined Derby County in a real damning move for the Rovers owners. They then replaced him with Valerien Ismael which looked a weird appointment at the time and is proving to be the case.
Rovers go into this match off the back of just one point from their last six matches and they have picked the worst time of the season for such a dreadful run of form. They have lost their last four matches, all to teams in the bottom half of the campaign and things need to turn around very quickly else this will be a campaign that just fizzles out and will leave the home fans having that ‘what might have been’ feeling once again.
Middlesbrough
Things haven’t exactly been plain sailing for Middlesbrough this season either. They look much the more progressive of the two sides involved here but they have already lost 14 times this term so you wouldn’t be able to label them as consistent. Nevertheless, they will move into the top six if they avoid defeat in this match and they will go fifth ahead of the remainder of the weekend matches so there is plenty to be optimistic about on Teesside right now.
The dampener to all of that is that their away form is not the best. They have only picked up a win and a draw in their last seven away from the Riverside Stadium this term and haven’t scored in their last two away games so they will be looking for a turnaround in those fortunes if they are to push on and assure themselves of a top six spot. That record is a little strange because there is nothing in their personnel that suggests they shouldn’t get results on the road.
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Team News
Blackburn Rovers boss Valerien Ismael has confirmed that Owen Beck has picked up an injury that will keep him out for the remainder of the season and Haydn Carter could miss the run in too but Harry Pickering is back for this one which is a boost.
Michael Carrick had Rav van der Berg back on his bench for the match against Oxford United last week and he will need to decide whether to bring the defender in or remain with the patched up back four which has been featuring recently.
Betting
I can’t be having Blackburn Rovers at all right now but in truth I’m not massively rushing to get involved in Middlesbrough either but I would favour the away side over the home one here if I was forced into it. I can’t really find a strong angle in that I like so I’m doing to double up a couple of selections in a bet builder for this one which gets us to a near enough even money price on a bet that gives us enough options on our side that I’m comfortable with.
If we take the Blackburn win out of the equation, something they haven’t achieved in their last six matches, and have the Middlesbrough and draw double chance as a selection and then under 3.5 goals because I don’t see this catching fire then we have a more than reasonable bet. None of the last 17 Blackburn matches have had more than 3.5 goals while Boro have only had one of their last eight go over 3.5 but with these two in action on Tuesday I don’t expect Boro to go all out to run the score up if they are in front. Boro/Draw and under 3.5 goals gives us the 1-0 2-0, 2-1 and 3-0 Boro wins as well as 0-0 and 1-1 and that collection of scores feels right to me.
Tips
Back Bet Builder: Middlesbrough/Draw double chance and under 3.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with Boylesports
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