Huddersfield vs Middlesbrough prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-03-31 14:00.
A new era beckons for Huddersfield Town as American businessman Kevin Nagle was named as their new prospective owner during the international break. That news perhaps softened the blow of their recent transfer embargo, as would have the Terriers’ 1-0 victory over promotion-chasing Millwall ahead of the break, with boss Neil Warnock gushing that the players had “never worked as hard” in their lives for that victory.
Warnock now turns his sights to spoiling the weekend of another promotion candidate, his former club Middlesbrough. He knows all too well how to beat them too, with Warnock-managed sides picking up 30 of a possible 36 points against Middlesbrough across his long managerial career (W10, L2). It might be trickier this time around however, as Huddersfield possess the Championship’s worst average possession since his arrival (33.7% – W2, D2, L3) and welcome a Boro side right in the hunt for automatic promotion.
The final push for a return to the Premier League begins here for Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough, who enter this round ten points above seventh-place but just three points in arrears of second-placed Sheffield United, albeit having played one game more. Boro signed off for the international break in style with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Preston, extending their unbeaten run to four games and keeping the pressure on the top-two (W3, D1).
Playing away from home against a side fighting for their lives is unlikely to faze Middlesbrough, who have won their three away league games against the other sides currently residing in the bottom-four by a combined 10-2 scoreline! Free-flowing attacking play has been a hallmark of Carrick’s team, a statement backed up by the fact they’ve failed to keep a single away clean sheet across their last nine away games yet still picked up 18 points (W6, L3).
Players to watch: Danny Ward scored the winner for Huddersfield at Millwall and is now seeking back-to-back scoring games for the first time since August 2022. Such a feat is commonplace for Boro’s Chuba Akpom, who has scored 21 goals in 23 games under Carrick, in comparison to just 13 goals in total for English clubs between 2013 and Carrick’s appointment!
Hot stat: Huddersfield have an impressive 64% win/draw rate as pre-match outsiders in home league games (W4, D5, L5).