Middlesbrough vs Leeds prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2024-04-21 19:00.
[p]Despite putting together a run of nine unbeaten games (W5, D4), Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough look to have come up just short of gaining promotion this season. That run was bookended by a creditable point away to Ipswich, and whilst Monday’s opponents Leeds United will have been grateful for Boro aiding their own automatic promotion push, the hosts will be looking to close out the final three games without defeat.[/p]
[p]Whilst Boro are essentially playing for pride, they don’t look anything like a typical ‘on the beach’ side and the especially fiery atmosphere at the Riverside whenever Leeds roll into town should inspire them further. The Middlesbrough rearguard needs no additional motivation after keeping three consecutive home clean sheets ahead of this clash, just as they did when winning 3-0 in two of the previous four home H2Hs (W2, D1, L1). [/p]
[p]That could be a worry for the travelling Leeds faithful as their club failed to capitalise on both Ipswich and Leicester’s negative results in the previous round when they recorded their third straight winless match (D1, L2), going down 1-0 at home to Blackburn. Daniel Farke’s men failed to score in the last two of those, but despite the sharp slide, they incredibly remained within touching distance of the top-two ahead of this round, with the picture likely to become much clearer by the time Monday rolls around. [/p]
[p]Shoring up the backline may be crucial to any Leeds success as they’ve won the only game in which they kept a clean sheet across their last five competitive trips (W1, D2, L2). Farke’s men had to come from behind to claw a point in both those draws during the aforementioned sequence, which has contributed to only Ipswich (28) picking up more than their 22 points when conceding the opener this season (W6, D4, L8). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Middlesbrough’s Emmanuel Latte Lath is a man on fire with five goals across his last five appearances. His last five scoring appearances saw him net Boro’s first, whilst he scored inside three minutes in the reverse. Daniel James equalised in the fifth minute on that day on the way to a 3-2 win which forms part of a 100% win rate in scoring appearances for Leeds (W12). [/p]
[p]Hot streak: Leeds boss Farke has only faced Bristol City more often than Middlesbrough (W6, D1) without ever losing a game. [/p]