Middlesbrough v Fulham: Entertainment expected at The Riverside

Middlesbrough into the top-six

Middlesbrough boosted their play-off hopes with an emphatic 4-0 win at Peterborough on Saturday. The hosts had a shot cleared off the line before Marcus Tavernier's neat finish put Chris Wilder's side in front. Close-range Folarin Balogun and Josh Coburn strikes followed in the second half, before Duncan Watmore rifled in a fourth for the resurgent Teessiders.

Victory moved Boro up to fifth and post-match Wilder made it clear in no uncertain terms that Middlesbrough are where they should be. He said, "We're in a good position and this is a club that should always be pushing to get out of this division. We are right in it and we should be. I don't think anybody should back away from that thought process."

Attention quickly turned towards Wednesday night's match-up with runaway league leaders Fulham as the Teessiders look to extend their exceptional eight-game winning streak at The Riverside with Wilder adding, "It's a huge week, Fulham are an outstanding team. I'm sure we'll have a fabulous following and it'll hopefully be competitive from our point of view."

Mitrovic fires Fulham, again

Two goals from the Championship's top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic were enough for league leaders Fulham to see off West London rivals QPR 2-0 at the weekend. The Serb scored in each half to take his tally to 37 league goals for the season as the Cottagers cruised to victory at Loftus Road and remained 14 points ahead of third-placed Huddersfield.

Mitrovic tapped in from six yards out to give Fulham the lead in the first half before burying a second-half penalty to claim all three points. The Whites could have scored more - Fabio Carvalho's deflected effort looped up and bounced back off the post as the visitors racked up eight shots on-target to bounce back from a rare defeat before the international break.

Speaking post-match, Fulham chief Marco Silva said: "We reacted like a big team should. We wanted to come here and win to show a reaction, we knew that they wanted the same. They were like us, under pressure to win this match, but I think from the first minute we showed that we were the best team on the pitch and we deserved the three points."

Boro command respect

Middlesbrough have pocketed top honours just twice in their last 11 league meetings with Fulham (W2-D5-L4) and the Teessiders come into Wednesday night's clash winless in their most recent five match-ups with the Cottagers. Curiously, Boro have also fired blanks in four of the past five head-to-head showdowns at The Riverside against the Whites (W1-D3-L1).

Middlesbrough 3.4549/20 were 14th when Chris Wilder took charge in November but have enjoyed an eye-catching revival, collecting the fourth-most Championship points under the new regime (W12-D4-L5). The majority of Boro's best work has been done on home soil with the hosts looking to extend an exceptional eight-game winning streak here in midweek.

Fulham 2.3411/8 have claimed 11 wins from 15 Championship outings since Christmas (W11-D2-L2), plundering an eye-watering 41 goals during that impressive sequence. Marco Silva's men have proven dominant against the league's lesser lights, yet the Whites haven't been quite so consistent against top-15 teams, boasting only four away wins (W11-D5-L5).

Entertainment expected

Middlesbrough matches under Chris Wilder have largely been fun affairs with games averaging 2.57 goals per-game. That figure does dip when welcoming teams to The Riverside with Boro's much-improved rearguard allowing only four goals against in their last eight home ties, and recording eight clean sheets in their past 17 Championship fixtures.

Fulham's fixtures have featured 3.32 goals per-game away from Craven Cottage with the visitors racking up 47 goals in 19 away days. Maro Silva's men have fired a solitary blank on their travels and will expect to at least breach the Middlesbrough backline. With both sides going well, backing Both Teams To Score at 1.804/5 looks a reasonable option to take.