Middlesbrough vs Sunderland prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2024-02-03 12:00.
It has been a slow period of football for Middlesbrough, who have had plenty of time to reflect on their expected, yet heavy 6-2 aggregate defeat in the Carabao Cup semi-final almost two weeks ago. Things haven’t been quite so slow on the transfer front though, with Boro selling Morgan Rogers for a reported £16m to Aston Villa and bringing in highly-rated Leicester full-back Luke Thomas on loan since their last game.
With full focus now on the league and just four points separating them from the top-six, a visit from their Wearside rivals Sunderland is arguably the most fitting way to return to action. Michael Carrick’s men have a chance to post a first league double over Sunderland since 2016/17 after their storming 4-0 away win in October, although some rather uninspiring recent home league form could hinder them (W1, D1, L3).
Making the short trip to Teesside on the back of a good 3-1 win over Stoke to end a three-game losing streak, Sunderland know that defeat could spell danger for their play-off push as they sit just three points above Boro having played one game more. Despite their victory in the last round, Michael Beale has had a tough start to life as the Black Cats boss (W3, D1, L4) and will hope for back-to-back wins to get more fans on side.
Securing that second straight win here will be no mean feat, as Sunderland have won on just two of their last 26 league visits to Teesside (D8, L16) in a tragic run of H2H form reaching back into the 1990s. Compounding that form further is Sunderland’s dire away record of late, with the visitors winning just one of their last nine Championship away games (W1, D3, L5).
Players to watch: Marcus Forss has scored in two of his three games for Boro since returning from injury and also hit a 90th minute goal in the reverse to secure Boro’s biggest H2H victory since 1936. Abdoullah Ba could be the chief creator for Sunderland after providing two assists in his last three Championship appearances, as many as he made across his first 52 league appearances for the club.
Hot streak: Middlesbrough are unbeaten in each of the last 15 games which directly followed them conceding six goals in one match (W8, D7).