Blackburn v Middlesbrough

Technically this is a big match in the play-off race, but Blackburn will need to arrest a shocking recent decline, whilst Middlesbrough need to overcome a recent hoodoo against Rovers to try and leapfrog into fifth-place in the table ahead of the Saturday Championship programme.

⭐ Blackburn v Middlesbrough Best Bet

Back Under 2.5 Goals @ 1.91 with bet365

This match has a lot of indicators of a tense encounter.

The turmoil at Ewood Park, on and off the pitch, could lead to a strange home atmosphere, and with Valerien Ismael still searching for his first win, he will not want to give much away from a defensive perspective.

Middlesbrough have only generated 0.38 xG and 0.24 xG in their last two away matches at Swansea and Luton, and didn’t score in either. They also played poorly in the first half against Oxford last weekend, so their 2-1 victory is not totally convincing.

The two meetings between the teamthis season have both been very tight 1-0 victories for Rovers, with few big chances for either team, indeed Rovers’ winner in the league should’ve been ruled offside.

Middlesbrough are still having to field a makeshift defence, so will be looking to protect that as much as possible, and their last two away matches have yielded only one goal in total.

👕 Blackburn v Middlesbrough Predicted XI

🔍 Blackburn v Middlesbrough Players to Watch

🔵 Hayden Carter

Since his return to the team following injury, Hayden Carter has been involved in both shots and fouls for his team. Carter has committed one foul in all five starts since his comeback, and he has also had six shots in that time, at least one in four of his five starts.

Potentially most interestingly, Carter started at right-back in Blackburn’s last match. He had two shots in the game, but then was substituted for Joe Rankin-Costello, who is a more attacking option. This is a potentially good spot to take advantage of ‘Sub On Play On’.

Back Hayden Carter to have 1+ Shots @ 2.20 with bet365 🔛

🔴 Samuel Iling-Junior

The Aston Villa loanee is beginning to establish himself in a role that he wouldn’t have expected to be fulfilling when he moved up to Teesside. His position at left-back isn’t necessarily curbing his natural attacking instincts, though, with five shots in his last three matches, including hitting two shots in two of those matches.

He is playing the vast majority of minutes in his recent appearances as well, but is one that could be pushed further forward mid-game, or be substituted for an attacking outlet as well.

Back Samuel Iling-Junior to have 2+ Shots @ 1.87 with bet365 🔛

🔴 Anfernee Dijksteel

Dijksteel is an interesting one when it comes to potential yellow cards. He has received three yellow cards in his last seven starts. He is playing 100% of the minutes since Middlesbrough’s injury problems took hold, and he has recently been active in fouling, committing seven fouls in four matches. He looks a nice price here.

Back Anfernee Dijksteel to be Shown a Card @ 5.50 with bet365 🔛

📂 Blackburn v Middlesbrough Cheat Sheet

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💻 Blackburn v Middlesbrough Form and Tactics

Blackburn’s results have been terrible of late. They have suffered four defeats in a row and scored only three goals in Valerien Ismael’s five matches in charge.

Whilst Ismael hasn’t changed the fundamental 4-2-3-1 shape that Blackburn employed under John Eustace, some of the methodology and player roles have been adapted. Hayden Carter was used at right-back last time out, who is more typically a central defender, whilst Ismael has also used Makhtar Gueye, Yuki Ohashi, and Emmanuel Dennis all in the same lineup in their last home match against Cardiff, which saw his team employ a more direct style.

Middlesbrough have been fairly wedded to a 4-2-3-1 formation under Michael Carrick. They tend to use both full-backs as attacking outlets, but given current personnel issues, this has leaned more to the left-hand side of late, with Sam Iling-Junior on the left and Anfernee Dijksteel on the right. There has been more fluidity in the forward positions as well, with Kelechi Iheanacho and Tommy Conway rotating between the #9 and #10 positions, with Finn Azaz also wanting to take up central spaces to create from. Aidan Morris is the key man for Boro as a breaker of play in front of the defence.

Ostensibly, Boro’s form has been good since a scarcely believable five defeats in a row between 25th January and 25th February. They have won four in six since then, but their away form is still a concern, having convincingly lost the xG battle against Swansea and Luton in their last two away matches.

🏁 Blackburn v Middlesbrough Ref Watch

• Referee - John Busby

• Busby has only given two red cards this season, and averages a penalty award once every 7.5 matches this season

  Fouls pg	Yellows pg	Reds pg
  21.39	3.17	0.09

  (Per game data from Busby's 23 Championship matches this season)

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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.