Middlesbrough vs Burnley prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-04-06 19:00.
Good Friday’s Championship action ends on the banks of the River Tees as promotion-chasing Middlesbrough look to cling on to their fading automatic promotion dream at the expense of league leaders Burnley. Boro are reeling from a 4-2 defeat against relegation-threatened Huddersfield last round despite scoring first, a pattern of play that was also seen in the reverse fixture when Burnley came from behind to win 3-1!
A Riverside return should be good news for Middlesbrough, who have not tasted defeat in a home league game since last October (W8, D3). That’s not all, as only Barnsley across the entire EFL have registered more than Middlesbrough’s ten league wins in 2023 (W10, D1, L3) whilst only Luton and Burnley themselves can match their points total this year amongst Championship teams ahead of the round.
The nerves of Burnley fans may have been jangling all week as their seemingly inevitable promotion could be confirmed here, depending on the result of the game between Luton and Millwall earlier in the day. Even if the Hatters win that game, it may only postpone Burnley’s promotion party to Easter Monday should they manage to defeat Middlesbrough in front of a sell-out crowd here.
A 6-0 humbling at the hands of Manchester City in their FA Cup quarter-final away tie may have given Burnley a preview of what’s to come ahead of their Premier League return, yet they’ll probably find this a bit easier as they’re unbeaten across their last eight Championship road trips (W6, D2). Even so, winning here is far from a formality as Burnley haven’t completed a winning league double over Boro since 1953/54!
Players to watch: Marcus Forss (G10) and Chuba Akpom (G25) are the first pair of Boro players to hit at least ten league goals each in a season since Ashley Fletcher and Britt Assombalonga did so in 2019/20. They’ll have to be on top form to outdo Burnley’s Manuel Benson, who turned a deficit into a lead in a seven-minute spell in the reverse H2H and now seeks his first goal since an injury layoff.
Hot stat: Burnley have failed to score in a league-low three games (8%), whilst both teams have scored in a joint league-high 24 of Middlesbrough’s games ahead of the round (62%).