Blackburn v Middlesbrough: Tough Teessiders hard to oppose

Blackburn v Middlesbrough
Tuesday November 3, 19:45
Sky Sports

Blackburn made to rue missed chances

Tony Mowbray suggested his Blackburn defence are short on confidence following their 2-0 defeat at Swansea on Saturday. Rovers created several chances, with Adam Armstrong and Ben Brereton testing the reflexes of Swans' stopper Freddie Woodman in both halves, while Corry Evans missed a glorious opportunity to restore parity early in the second period.

Ultimately it was two defensive lapses that prevented Blackburn from taking anything out of the game, with Darragh Lenihan being beaten for strength for the first goal from a corner, and a lack of concentration allowing Swansea the opportunity to get in behind and create a decisive second. Post-match, Mowbray felt recent struggles were confidence-based issues.

Rovers were without a dozen players in Wales through injury and illness and Armstrong is now rated doubtful for Tuesday night's tussle with a hamstring strain. The hosts are already without the services of Thomas Kaminski, Daniel Ayala, Joe Rothwell, Elliott Bennett, Bradley Dack and Lewis Travis, Bradley Johnson, Amari'i Bell and Barry Douglas.

Middlesbrough continue upward trajectory

Substitute Marvin Johnson scored a late winner as Middlesbrough stretched their unbeaten streak to eight games with a 1-0 triumph over Nottingham Forest at the weekend. Johnson volleyed home just three minutes after coming off the bench, meeting a George Saville cross at the back post to secure back-to-back Championship triumphs for the Teessiders.

Boro threatened a number of times, with Marcus Tavernier sending their best first-half chance wastefully over the bar after Brice Samba foiled Britt Assombalonga. But after Johnson's late intervention, Marcus Bettinelli ensured a deserved maximum point haul for Neil Warnock's troops by smothering an injury-time shot, Forest's only attempt on-target.

Dael Fry was a notable absentee from the matchday squad on Saturday with Warnock admitting a couple of his players were nursing knocks. Djed Spence and Patrick Roberts also dropped out of the XI with Marc Bola, Nathan Wood and Hayden Coulson coming into the team as Middlesbrough set-up in a 4-1-4-1 system at the Riverside.

In-form Boro hard to oppose

Blackburn have been beaten just once in their last 10 Championship meetings with Middlesbrough dating back to 2012. However, a large portion of those head-to-head matches have ended all-square - six of those showdowns were drawn 3.052/1 as Rovers picked up maximum points on three occasions, all of which were at Ewood Park.

Blackburn 2.427/5 come into this clash having lost consecutive home league games against Nottingham Forest and Reading. Tony Mowbray's injury-hit squad have suffered four defeats in their past five league fixtures now (W1-D0-L4), whilst also returning pointless from four meetings with teams currently occupying top-six berths.

Middlesbrough 3.1511/5 were edged out by Watford in their curtain-raising contest but have since earned 16 points (W4-D4-L0) to move within a point of second-place in the Championship. Boro have collected four clean sheets in their most recent five matches and are yet to concede more than a solitary strike in any game, boasting the division's joint-best defence.

Contrasting goal trends

The duo are returning contrasting goal trends this term. Blackburn have seen Over 2.5 Goals 2.186/5 surpassed in six of their nine outings with games averaging a league-high 3.44 goals. Meanwhile, only Watford (1.44) matches are producing fewer goals per-game than Middlesbrough 1.564/7 with the Teessiders breaking the Over 2.5 Goals barrier just once.

Keeping in-form Boro onside appeals considering the extent of absentees in the Blackburn camp but I'm not anticipating a high-scoring shootout at Ewood Park. Therefore, taking the 1.90 available on Betfair Sportsbook for Middlesbrough Double Chance and Under 3.5 Goals looks to be our best available option at a generous price.