Middlesbrough vs Birmingham prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2022-10-04 18:45.
Amidst the backdrop of managerial chaos, poor results and rising tensions in the fan base, Middlesbrough revealed a 90s-inspired third kit ahead of their weekend trip to Coventry. In a comically tragic twist, Boro lost that game 1-0 and now have more kits than league wins (W2, D4, L5), as one of the pre-season promotion favourites continue to sleepwalk into a relegation battle.
First team coach Leo Percovich takes over for this encounter after the abrupt sacking of Chris Wilder, and he will hope for a strong start as Boro have picked up 90% of their Championship points at home (W2, D3, L1) this season. Perhaps throwing cold water on that confidence is the fact that Boro have now lost their last two home league H2Hs with Birmingham, and are yet to win a midweek league game this campaign (D1, L2).
Blues boss John Eustace stated that he was proud of his team following their comeback draw against table-topping Sheffield United last time out, which extended their unbeaten league run to four games (W2, D2). The shine was somewhat taken from that result however, as the club were forced to make a statement about racist abuse directed towards Juninho Bacuna, which was especially abhorrent at the start of Black History Month.
Birmingham’s 13-point haul after 11 rounds is within a point of their returns after as many games in each of the last two seasons. Not ideal if Birmingham are looking to break a sequence of six consecutive bottom-half finishes in the Championship, although they may take confidence from the fact that the away side on the day have won each of the last four H2H clashes, as many as they did in 37 editions prior!
Players to watch: Anfernee Dijksteel was criticised publicly in Wilder’s final interview for not following instructions during Middlesbrough’s latest defeat, yet they haven’t scored in over three hours of play since his assist for Rodrigo Muniz. Meanwhile, Scott Hogan scored a hat-trick in Birmingham’s last away win and also found the net in his last two visits to Teesside.
Hot stat: Both teams scored in just one of the last seven H2Hs at the Riverside Stadium.