Sheffield Wednesday host Middlesbrough at Hillsborough as both teams look to ignite their Championship campaign.
Locked one point apiece and sat bottom of the table, victory would see Wednesday or Middlesbrough climb out of the relegation zone if Swansea fail to win elsewhere.
Team News
Barry Bannan is a doubt for Sheffield Wednesday after he missed their home loss to Ipswich last weekend with an unspecified injury.
Bambo Diaby, Will Vaulks (both unspecified) and Dominic Iofra (knock) are doubtful for selection
Mallik Wilks (fitness) and Momo Diaby (foot) are both ruled out.
Middlesbrough could be without Alex Bangura after he suffered a hamstring injury in their defeat at Blackburn.
Lukas Engel (foot) is doubtful but if declared fit, he will likely replace Bangura in the starting line-up.
When is Kick-Off?
Sheffield Wednesday host Middlesbrough at Hillsborough in a 8pm BST kick-off on Tuesday 19 September, live on Sky Sports in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Sheffield Wednesday have won three of their last five meetings against Middlesbrough (W3, L2).
- Middlesbrough have won four of their last five visits to Hillsborough (W4, L1).
- Each of their last four meetings at Hillsborough have been settled by a 2-1 result, with Boro winning three of those four games to the Owls’ one win.
- Sheffield Wednesday are looking to avoid going seven consecutive league matches without a win for the first time since an eight-match streak between February-March 2021.
- Middlesbrough are winless in their last 11 league matches – including last season’s Championship Play-Offs (D3, L8).
Prediction
Having struggled to adjust to being back in the Championship, Sheffield Wednesday have to produce a better performance than they did against Ipswich, where they were outclassed and failed to even register a shot on target in another weak display.
Boro meanwhile are currently adapting as a much-changed team from the high-flying side of last season but their defence has so far been pretty lacklustre, especially with some awful marking which was evident in how they conceded twice at Blackburn through their central defence.
Both teams therefore have work to do defensively but if Boro can sort out their attacking difficulties, I do fancy them to find a break through and kick-start their season, especially given that Wednesday have scored one goal in their last four league games.
Prediction: Sheffield Wednesday 0-1 Middlesbrough
Result: Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Middlesbrough
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