- Middlesbrough have lost just one of their last nine Championship home games
- Stoke have lost four of their last five Championship fixtures
- Recommended bet: Middlesbrough to win and over 2.5 goals

Middlesbrough suffered their heaviest defeat of the season when subsiding 5-0 at home to Stoke in the EFL Cup second round, so they will be hoping for a very different outcome when taking on the Potters this weekend.

Pushing for promotion is Boro’s priority and there is obvious room for improvement, with only eight points gathered from a possible 18.

Michael Carrick’s side were beaten 1-0 at Sunderland last Saturday, but have not lost a home league game since April when they succumbed 4-3 to Leeds.

Stoke will be aiming for another triumph on Teesside, but they make the trip under a different head coach after bringing in Narcis Pelach to replace Steven Schumacher.

Pelach’s tenure got off to a poor start with a 3-1 loss at home to Hull.

Team news

The home side are expected to be without Darragh Lenihan (ankle), Jonny Howson, Dael Fry (both leg), Marcus Forss (hamstring), Alex Bangura and Tom Smith (both Achilles).

Rav van den Berg and Lukas Engel are nearing full fitness and will be assessed with a view to returning to the squad.

Stoke defender Ashley Phillips (knock) is a doubt and Bosun Lawal (leg), Lynden Gooch (ligament injury), Ben Pearson (muscle strain) and Sam Gallagher (calf) are ruled out.

Emre Tezgel and Niall Ennis are alternative attacking options should head coach Pelach decide to shake things up.

The stats

Middlesbrough have lost one of their last nine Championship home games and have scored in each of their last seven home league fixtures.

Stoke have lost four of their last five league matches and four of their last five away games have generated less than three goals.

Prediction

Mid-table Middlesbrough feel they should have more points on the board and they can take an important step forward by defeating Stoke at the Riverside Stadium.

Carrick’s side have been the dominant force in most of their matches and are top of the Championship’s shot stats with 106.

The Teessiders were the subject of another hard luck story at Sunderland last Saturday, where they slid to a 1-0 loss despite winning the shot count 12 to nine and harvesting 63 per cent possession.

But Boro are determined to stick to what they regard as the right processes and they can gain some overdue reward against Stoke, who appear to be on course for another underwhelming campaign.

The Potters have posted six successive bottom-half finishes and are off to a poor start with four losses in six games.

Pelach’s side performed poorly in last Friday’s 3-1 reverse at home to fellow strugglers Hull and they may suffer a high-scoring loss against Boro, who are perched in a false position.

Back Middlesbrough to win and over 2.5 goals at 27/20 with LiveScore Bet

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