Middlesbrough vs Southampton Prediction & Betting Tips - Championship

Away wins over Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup are all Middlesbrough have so far this season. They have five losses in their seven league matches and three have been in the last four matches. Coming into this game though, they had some reprieve, rising from behind to draw 1-1 with Sheffield Wednesday. It is hard now to imagine this is the same Middlesbrough side that almost secured Premier League promotion last season. Michael Carrick’s appointment at the team coincided with a fine run that saw him linked with bigger jobs. However, tables have shifted and Boro have failed to win any league game since the end of April. They are without a win in 12 Championship matches, losing eight in that run. It will be tougher for Middlesbrough looking at their head-to-head record against Southampton. In the last five meetings, Middlesbrough have lost four times.

Southampton have collected a few points more than Middlesbrough but they aren’t in the best shape coming here. The Saints have lost each of their last three matches and some of those have been heavy defeats. In their last match they fell 1-0 at home to Ipswich Town. That was some improvement from earlier 4-1 and 5-0 losses to Leicester City and Sunderland respectively. They will however be concerned at failing to score in two of those matches. That was also the only time in their eight matches this season that they failed to score. Seven of their eight matches this season have had over 2.5 goals. They have no clean sheet in their eight matches so far, which will say a lot about their defensive discipline. Two wins in their three away league matches will however give Southampton confidence that they can do well here.