Blackburn vs Middlesbrough prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-09-15 14:00.
Jon Dahl Tomassonâs Blackburn Rovers headed into the international break on a sombre note after being comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Plymouth, a scoreline which wasnât âfairâ according to the Danish tactician. In any case, Blackburn have recorded a balanced five-game start (W2, D1, L2), which is curiously identical to their 2020/21 five-game start, the last campaign in which they registered a bottom-half finish.
An Ewood Park return is likely to stimulate more action if nothing else, as their three competitive home games this term have produced a combined six goals and a red card all before half-time! Those goals ultimately contributed to each of Blackburnâs last four home matches seeing both teams score on the day, which is in turn part of a more worrying run of just one clean sheet across their last nine home outings.
That should be music to the ears of Middlesbrough fans, who still eagerly await their teamâs first win in league action this season (D1, L4). Michael Carrickâs men have so far failed to live up to the raft of âtitle contenderâ predictions from the so-called experts in pre-season, and theyâve now suffered the clubâs worst-ever five-game start to a league season outside of the Premier League.
It did take until round six for Boro to notch their first win last season, but with Carrick currently enduring a longer winless run of Championship games (D3, L7) than his predecessor Chris Wilder ever did, the patience of local fans could soon be tested. Despite the negatives, Carrick has enjoyed some much-needed time on the training pitch to help bed in signings that arrived late in the window, so cautious optimism may dominate the pre-match mood.
Players to watch: Blackburnâs Ryan Hedges scored his sideâs sole goal in their latest league win, assisted twice in their last home victory and scored within five minutes of his last meeting with Boro. He may come up against Boroâs Aussie pair Riley McGree and Sammy Silvera, two men who kept their chemistry alive by sharing the pitch for Australia as they drew 2-2 with Mexico during the break.
Hot stat: Middlesbroughâs win here last season was only their second across the last 16 H2Hs at any venue (W2, D8, L6).