Middlesbrough v Blackburn: Boro backed to keep Rovers at bay

Middlesbrough v Blackburn
Sunday January 24, 15:00
Sky Sports

Middlesbrough bounce back in midweek

Middlesbrough bounced back from last weekend's miserable home defeat to Birmingham by impressively beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 at the City Ground on Wednesday. Boro striker Britt Assombalonga was in red-hot form and put the Teessiders ahead inside the opening 15 minutes from close range, finding the net with a low, first-time finish.

The visitors doubled their advantage on the counter-attack soon after the break when George Saville calmly slipped the ball home as he raced through one-on-one. Forest finally rallied late on, scoring with their first attempt on target, but they could not find an equaliser in a bad-tempered second-half that saw the hosts reduce to 10 men in the dying embers.

Victory pushed Neil Warnock's side to within touching distance of the top-six and the Boro boss said, "When Britt's like that, he's as good as anything. I just wish he'd do that every week. We were at it from the first minute, I knew we'd be all right. We never took our foot off the pedal. We were sloppy on Saturday, but the only disappointment was not scoring more goals."

Blackburn salvage a point at Stoke

A waterlogged Ewood Park pitch caused by Storm Christoph meant Blackburn's midweek match-up with Swansea was postponed. In Rovers' last outing, Tony Mowbray's men came from behind to salvage a point against 10-man Stoke here last Saturday with John Buckley levelling the contest following more impressive work from young loanee Harvey Elliott.

For the majority of the match, Blackburn had huffed and puffed without reward and the hosts had to wait until the final 20 minutes of the game to force their first chance. The leveller came soon after but post-match Mowbray admitted his team lacked their usual verve, saying: "The team was off its intensity levels that we normally play at today."

The Rovers manager added, "We didn't look we could score for 70 minutes, I think we needed more energy in the team. We didn't really look like we were going to get the winner. I could have made five changes at half time and I was seriously thinking about it but in hindsight it was easier to do them in stages." Sam Gallagher is now absent through injury.

Boro boast strong Riverside record

Middlesbrough have managed only two triumphs in their past 11 meetings with Blackburn and are winless in five when welcoming Rovers to the Riverside. However, recent head-to-heads have been dominated by draws 3.1511/5 - seven of the most recent 10 contests, including the reverse, have ended all-square, as have the past five league meetings here.

Curiously, Middlesbrough 2.526/4 haven't won a home league match in January since a 2-0 win over Derby in 2016, going 10 such games without a victory since (W0-D6-L4). Nevertheless, Boro boast one of the division's strongest home records this term (W7-D2-L2), which includes six successes from seven against teams currently below them in the table.

Blackburn's 3.002/1 own top-six ambitions have been curtailed following an inconsistent run of results since early December (W2-D2-L4). Rovers have tended to fall short against the league's elite, returning W0-D3-L7 against sides in ninth and above, compared to W9-D3-L2 when taking on clubs in 10th and below. The visitors have lost half of their away days.

Teessiders can keep Rovers at bay

Matches at the Riverside Stadium have rarely been thrill-a-minute affairs with games averaging only 1.82 goals per-game. Even so, four of those 11 tussles have breached the Over 2.5 Goals 2.265/4 barrier, as have nine of Middlesbrough's past 13 Championship encounters across all venues dating back to late November.

Blackburn remain the second-tier goal kings with no divisional rival delivering more goals per-game than Rovers' average of 2.79 this term. Contests away from Ewood Park have also been exciting affairs with 5/12 (42%) fixtures producing four goals or more, whilst the guests arrive in Teesside with only one shutout to their name in their last 11.

In a tricky-looking match-up, the 1.9010/11 on the Same Game Multi for Middlesbrough Double Chance and Over 1.5 Goals holds plenty of appeal.