please log in to view this image Preview: Middlesbrough vs. Bristol City - prediction, team news, lineups By Olly Allen | 1h please log in to view this image English Middlesbrough will be keen to take another step closer to the Championship playoff positions when they host Bristol City on Tuesday. Eighth place Boro are currently three points behind the top six, while the Robins' horrific recent run of form has left them in 15th. A win for Middlesbrough on Tuesday would draw them level on points with Bournemouth in sixth before the Cherries face a crucial clash against seventh place Cardiff City 24 hours later. Boro themselves then play the Bluebirds at the weekend. Neil Warnock's men made a statement of intent on Saturday when they won 2-0 away from home at fifth place Reading, with both goals coming in the space of seven first half minutes from Ashley Fletcher and Marc Bola. Warnock suggested afterwards that "it was as good a performance against a good side since I have been here" and the result marked a second victory in a row for Boro after they had been winless in their previous five. While the win was just their second clean sheet in 12 league matches, only five Championship clubs have conceded fewer goals than the Teeside outfit this season. Middlesbrough's 2-1 victory over Huddersfield Town in their last home game ended a run of four successive defeats at the Riverside. George Saville's goal earned Boro a 1-0 win against Bristol City in this season's reverse fixture at Ashton Gate – only the third time they had triumphed over the Robins in their last 12 attempts. They may well feel confident of another three points on Tuesday though, as Bristol City appear to be a club in crisis on the pitch. A 1-0 defeat to Barnsley on Saturday was their seventh successive loss in all competitions, a run which has led to them dropping from just outside the playoffs to mid-table and 10 points behind the top six. Joint caretaker managers Keith Downing and Paul Simpson have been tasked with steadying the ship following Dean Holden's sacking last Tuesday, but the club seem no closer to appointing a new boss. Since the start of 2021, only Huddersfield Town and Wycombe Wanderers have picked up fewer points than Bristol City, and only the Chairboys have conceded more goals. Having won five of their first eight away league games of the season, the Robins have now lost their last seven on the road in the Championship, as well as exiting the FA Cup away to Sheffield United. It does not get any easier for them either, as after their trip to the Riverside they face top six opposition in the shape of Swansea City and Bournemouth. Middlesbrough Championship form: LDLLWW Bristol City Championship form: LLLLLL Bristol City form (all competitions): LLLLLL Neil Warnock has switched to a back three for Middlesbrough's last two games and won both of them, so he is expected to stick with the same system on Tuesday night. Britt Assombalonga and George Saville are pushing for recalls, while Warnock hopes to have Marcus Tavernier, who has missed the last six games with injury, available at some point over the next week. Paul Simpson admitted that Bristol City had 15 players unavailable against Barnsley and that none would be ready to return at the Riverside. That injury list could get longer as Henri Lansbury was taken off on Saturday with an Achilles issue. Steven Sessegnon will be assessed ahead of the trip to Teeside after he played 76 minutes against Reading on his return from a lengthy hamstring injury, while Nahki Wells could come back into the side upfront. Middlesbrough possible starting lineup: Bettinelli; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Fisher, Morsy, Howson, Saville, Bola; Fletcher, Watmore Bristol City possible starting lineup: Bentley; Moore, Kalas, Mariappa; Hunt, Vyner, Massengo, Palmer, Sessegnon; Diedhiou, Wells please log in to view this image We say: Middlesbrough 2-0 Bristol City It is difficult to see past a Middlesbrough win in this one. Boro seem rejuvenated since Neil Warnock's switch to a back three and their win at Reading will give them a lot of confidence. Meanwhile, Bristol City are at the other end of the spectrum – rock bottom with little hope of picking up three points. https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/footba...prediction-team-news-lineups_436216.html?r=Pv
Mr Warnock is looking forward to this one, I bet he wants to do a Watford on us, oh for a new mature, knowledgeable manager and not a yes man or a cheap option, we've been there and bought the T shirt.
i agree, we haven’t learnt with the cheap options, we did it with Millen, then again with DH. Really hoping SL has learnt his lesson
Maybe, but given where we were in the league, we couldn't have probably got any better. We saw this when Cotterill tried to bu Gayle and Gray, they didn't want a bar of it as we were not established, it's the same for managers. We could not have competed for a Championship proven manager when Cotterill was sacked, but we could and should have when LJ was sacked. You could argue LJ was a cheap option, yes, but you have to put it into context of where we were then vs now.
I thought we interviewed Hughton too? There's also rumours that we offered to make Steven Gerrard the highest paid Head Coach in the Championship on more money than he is on at Rangers, but he turned us down.
We’ll never know who applies , However I find it hard to believe we couldn’t have got someone with more experience than LJ, SL wanted him that’s why we got him.
tonight a draw would be a good result .. it would slow the rot, hopefully they will throw 3 - 5 -2 out the window with the latest news on coming out of lockdown unlikely anyone will certainly not me! be able to attend the game … thinking back to about 1964 2020 / 21 will be the only season I have not been at least once or twice … from 1992 /93 was when it dropped from about a dozen or more to just 3 or 4 picked up a bit, in 2000 …. 2008 6-8 times 2009 at least 1 or 2 or more most was about 5/6 …. I could fancy a visit .. maybe the last home game of the season should it be open house!
please log in to view this image Match Preview: Middlesbrough In association with City's Principal Partner MansionBet, we take a closer look at the match... The Riverside Stadium has treated the Robins well in the last two seasons, with a 2019 Adam Webster header and super strikes from Nahki Wells and Jamie Paterson from last year's restart still fresh in the mind. City head to the North East off the back of a narrow defeat at home to Barnsley when they looked like they might have done enough to earn a point at Ashton Gate on Saturday, but for Carlton Morris’ 67th minute goal. It was a sloppy goal conceded with a ball across the goalmouth tapped in by substitute Morris, after Bentley tried his best to deal with danger at the backpost following a corner. In fact, Barnsley had threatened from earlier corners but on this occasion the Robins defence would be finally beaten. No doubt Keith Downing and Paul Simpson will not be happy with the manner in which they conceded, and analysis of how the players defended those set pieces will be analysed ahead of Tuesday’s trip to the Riverside. But Saturday’s fixture against the Tykes showed City’s struggles going forward would continue, though there were glimpses of opportunity later in the game despite nothing coming to fruition. Captain Tomas Kalas says the players have to take responsibility and play with more confidence if they are to get out of the slump they find themselves in. After all, City are without point since beating Huddersfield Town a month ago. As for Middlesbrough, they will likely be confident after beating Reading 2-0 on Saturday, thanks to their first-half goals just seven minutes apart. That means Neil Warnock’s side have taken six points from their last two games and continue their charge on the top six now sitting just three points behind Jonathan Woodgate’s AFC Bournemouth. In fact, the Sunday Times described the last week as Boro’s “statement of intent against promotion rivals.” Now City have to step up and provide their own statement of intent. Can the Robins match up against an in-form side and a manager with promotion experience? It’s what’s required in the Championship and where seasons can be decided. There is more encouraging news from the injury camp as Liam Walsh, while not involved in the Boro fixture, will earn minutes with the Under-23s on Tuesday having missed the season so far.
