Middlesbrough welcome Barnsley to Riverside Stadium in a tasty Sky Bet Championship clash.
Victory could put Middlesbrough as high as tenth following results on Tuesday (19 October) evening, whereas Barnsley can escape the relegation zone with a win if Hull and Cardiff fail to win elsewhere.
Team News
Lee Peltier is set to return for Middlesbrough after missing Saturday’s win over Peterborough through suspension, having picked up five bookings already this season.
Anfernee Dijksteel (hamstring), Grant Hall (groin), Dael Fry (groin), Darnell Fisher, Marcus Browne and Sammy Ameobi (all knee) remain absent.
Barnsley could welcome Obbi Oulare into the matchday squad after a back injury kept the summer signing sidelined throughout their opening 12 league matches.
Callum Styles is also set to return after missing Saturday’s loss at Reading through an unspecified injury.
Mads Andersen (knee), Aapo Halme, Liam Kitching (both unspecified), Josh Benson (knock) and Carlton Morris (knee) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Middlesbrough have lost two of their last six league meetings against Barnsley (W3, D1, L2).
- Barnsley have won just one of their last eight league visits to Middlesbrough (W1, D1, L6).
- Boro have kept just one clean sheet in their last five home matches against Barnsley in the Championship.
- Barnsley are winless in their last four league matches with three of those losses coming through 1-0 defeats against Blackpool, Millwall and Reading respectively.
- Six of Boro’s ten league goals at home this season have been scored before half-time.
Prediction
Having recorded a pair of 2-0 victories in their last two home matches despite missing the majority of their defence through injury, Boro definitely will be eager to build on their strong home form after netting in all six home games this season.
Saturday however saw Neil Warnock’s men forced to play the long patient game against Peterborough but their finishing touch eventually proved the difference, which will give them confidence because they likely will need a repeat performance here given Barnsley’s quality.
Markus Schopp’s Tykes however are enduring their own injury crisis and boast just one win all season, although they have done well to lose three of their last four matches by 1-0 results following marginal errors against them.
On that note, I don’t expect a cracker given the defensive issues amongst both teams but Boro look in better form, which could well prove crucial to the outcome of this match.
Prediction: Middlesbrough 1-0 Barnsley
Result: Middlesbrough 2-0 Barnsley