Stoke City host Middlesbrough at BET365 Stadium in a rearranged Championship clash.
Victory will move Stoke up to 18th in the table, whilst Middlesbrough can climb as high as tenth with a win.
Team News
Wouter Burger could return for Stoke after recovering from a recent knee injury, which saw him not risked in a 4-2 loss at Norwich last weekend.
Lynden Gooch (leg), Eric Bocat (calf), Ryan Mmaee (hamstring), Ben Gibson and Josh Wilson-Esbrand (both unspecified) remain absent.
Middlesbrough have no fresh injury concerns following their 2-1 defeat at Bristol City.
Sol Brynn (shoulder), Seny Dieng, Jonny Howson, Riley McGree (all knock), Ben Doak (thigh), Alex Bangura (Achilles) and Darragh Lenihan (fitness/Achilles) are still sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Stoke host Middlesbrough at BET365 Stadium on Tuesday 25 February at 7:45pm GMT, live on Sky Sports+ in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Stoke have lost one of their last five league meetings against Middlesbrough (W2, D2, L1).
- Middlesbrough have won one of their last five league trips to Stoke (W1, D2, L2).
- Stoke have kept clean sheets in three of their last four home matches against Boro, except for a 2-2 draw in August 2022.
- Three of Lewis Baker’s four league goals for Stoke this season were scored after half-time.
- Boro have lost three of their last four away games by 2-1 results.
Prediction
Unbeaten at home since Mark Robins’ appointment and having seen a upturn in goalscoring form this month, Stoke can come into this game with more confidence but their defence is still a weak point as Norwich ruthlessly exposed.
Middlesbrough meanwhile were just pretty wasteful in their end product in a sloppy defeat at Bristol City who dominated but needed two late goals, which raises huge questions about Boro’s defence which seems to lack much confidence in their current downward spiral as other play-off rivals gather momentum for the run=in.
This clash therefore is a must-win for Middlesbrough because if they can score first and kick on to find a second against a vulnerable Stoke defence, they might just stand a chance at a play-off spot otherwise they will need to prepare for next season but I do fancy them to somehow nick this if can be more clinical.
Prediction: Stoke 1-2 Middlesbrough
Result: Stoke 1-3 Middlesbrough