Sunderland v Middlesbrough: Back 6/1 NTT20 Bet Builder in Saturday's Tees-Wear Derby

• Middlesbrough have kept one clean sheet this season

• Tommy Smith has already been shown four yellow cards

• Only two Boro games have seen under 10 corners

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Sunderland v Middlesbrough
Saturday, 12:30
Live on Sky Sports Football

The Tees-Wear Derby is by no means as heated as it's Tyne-Wear sibling but, given Newcastle's newly cast role as the Prodigal Son on the North-East football scene, maybe both Sunderland and Middlebrough would be better off focussing their dislike on each other rather than waiting for their mutual enemy to return.

Both teams endured a slow start to the season, with just one win between them in August, but they will come into this one in some form. Sunderland have jumped from 18th to 4th thanks to six wins in eight while Michael Carrick's Middlebrough are finally showing some signs of life having won three on the bounce.

Leg 1: BTTS YES

After failing to score in the first two games of the season, Boro are finally finding their shooting boots. There was always going to be a gap to fill having lost 28-goal Chuba Akpom to Ajax, not the mention the return of loanee Cameron Archer, so the manner of the three wins in scoring seven goals is sure to please Carrick.

The 2-0 win over Cardiff was their first clean sheet this season though, and in Sunderland they have an opposition who rarely fail to find the back of the net. Not only have the Mackems only drawn a blank twice this season, but they've scored two or more goals in each of their six wins.

Both teams' footballing philosophy is based around attacking freedom and that should ensure that this is a game full of chances at both ends.

Leg 2: Tommy Smith To Be Shown A Card

Middlesbrough's right-back will have his work cut out on Saturday when facing up to Jack Clarke, one of the best players in the league this season. Clarke had a stellar September in which he scored the six goals that fired Sunderland up the table. He also had the most successful dribbles in the league and was the second most fouled player through the month.

Smith has already been sent off this season for two yellow cards against West Brom, and has received two other cautions in other games. This amounts to four cards in just over 300 minutes of football so, when you also consider that he received 11 yellow cards last season including one against Sunderland, this feels like a one we have to include in the bet builder.

Leg 3: Over 9.5 corners

Only two of Middlesbrough's league games this season haven't hit double figures for total corners, and in one of those Boro's attacking threat was significantly blunted by Smith's sending off.

It makes sense that Carrick's side would be a corner magnet given their relentless attacking intention but general disregard for defending. With Sunderland's attacking focus coming mainly down the flanks and through Clarke, there doesn't seem much reason for this game to buck the trend of the away side's season.