Middlesbrough welcome league leaders, Leicester City to the Riverside Stadium in a Championship clash.
Victory could put Middlesbrough as high as eighth if results elsewhere swing in their favour, whilst Leicester can stay top with a win or draw – although defeat would be enough if Ipswich win and fail to better the Foxes’ losing goal margin.
Team News
Middlesbrough have no fresh injury concerns to report after last weekend’s dramatic 3-3 draw at Plymouth.
Darragh Lenihan, Tommy Smith (both Achilles), Lewis O’Brien (ankle/leg), Riley McGree (foot) and Marcus Forss (thigh) remain ruled out.
Leicester could welcome Tom Cannon into the matchday squad and a potential debut if he passes a late fitness test, following a lengthy absence with a back injury.
Yunus Akgun, Wilfried Ndidi (both muscle), Callum Doyle (knee) and Dennis Praet (back) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Middlesbrough host Leicester at the Riverside Stadium at 3pm GMT on Saturday 11 November, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Middlesbrough are winless in their last 14 meetings against Leicester (D8, L6).
- Leicester are unbeaten in their last seven visits to Middlesbrough (W3, D4).
- Middlesbrough have held Leicester to goalless draws in two of their last four meetings on Teesside, but lost the other two clashes by a 2-1 result on both occasions.
- Boro have picked up nine yellow cards between eight different players in their four recent league games at home, with Hayden Hackney the only player to be booked twice in that time.
- Kelechi Iheanacho has scored in three of his last four away appearances for Leicester.
Prediction
Having been forced to settle for a 3-3 draw at Plymouth despite having been the more dominant team in terms of attack, Boro will surely be disappointed with how they defended at times especially after having taken the lead in both halves.
Leicester meanwhile saw their unbeaten run ended against Leeds in a game where luck simply wasn’t on their side when it came to the finishing touch, yet they did struggle with the visitors’ press which should give Boro belief if they can enjoy spells controlling the ball and pressing hard.
Teesside though has been a happy hunting ground for Leicester in their last seven visits but if Boro can play as well as they did at Plymouth with better defending, I wouldn’t be surprised if they can somehow snatch a draw out of a tough game.
Prediction: Middlesbrough 1-1 Leicester
Result: Middlesbrough 1-0 Leicester
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