Middlesbrough welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the Riverside Stadium in the Third Round of 2022-23 FA Cup.
Victory would see Middlesbrough avoid suffering a Third Round exit in three of the last four seasons, whilst Brighton look to reach the Fourth Round for the sixth time in seven seasons
Team News
Matthew Clarke is ruled out for Middlesbrough as he continues to recover from a back injury.
Anfernee Dijksteel remains absent with a knee injury.
Brighton could welcome Adam Webster (knock) and Danny Welbeck (muscle) back into contention.
Deniz Undav (personal) is also set to feature but Jakub Moder remains absent with a knee injury.
When is Kick-Off?
Middlesbrough’s clash against Brighton will take place at 3pm GMT on Saturday 7 January, albeit untelevised in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Middlesbrough are unbeaten in three previous FA Cup meetings against Brighton across two separate ties (W1, D2, L1).
- Brighton are unbeaten in two previous visits to Middlesbrough (W1, D1), having drawn 1-1 at Ayresome Park in February 1906 then won 1-0 at Riverside in January 2018.
- Both teams have scored in three of their four FA Cup meetings.
- Excluding penalty shootouts, Boro have won just one of their last five FA Cup ties against Premier League opposition (W1, D2, L2).
- Excluding penalty shootouts, Brighton are unbeaten in seven of their last eight FA Cup ties against lower-league opposition (W4, D3, L1).
Prediction
With just two defeats since Michael Carrick took charge in late October, Boro enter this match in fine form and off the back of an impressive league win at Birmingham City where they were clinical despite conceding at 2-0 up.
Brighton meanwhile outclassed a lacklustre Everton in midweek but will need no reminder of the need to not underestimate cup opposition, having suffered an embarrasing League Cup exit at Charlton just over two weeks ago – so I do expect them to come and take this game seriously.
Boro though are yet to lose at home under Carrick and with both teams capable of delivering quality football, I reckon that both sets of fans could be in for a corker and a potential replay if little squad rotation is made.
Should both teams opt for squad changes then I do fancy Brighton’s quality to be the difference, otherwise I can see this tie going 315.4 miles to the AMEX Stadium for a replay.
Prediction: Middlesbrough 1-1 Brighton
Result: Middlesbrough 1-5 Brighton