Boro did well but they didn’t have luck, again. The lads from Riverside are starting to sink down in Championship, while Leicester are able to use that. Even though they arrive to Middlesborough at the back of a home defeat by in-form Preston…

Coventry are an average team that play with oscillations, while Middlesborough, after a successful start have just suffered a tough defeat at home against WBA. That is why the visitors will look for their chance to record a minimum win, while the hosts don’t have the strength to repeat the game against Sheffield United.

The Owls are dangerous and they like to attack their opponents, but Boro will be looking to lower the tempo and hit the hosts on the break. Being the more mature and experienced team, the visitors should be able to impose their style on the hosts and they hope that a low-scoring match would help them get all the points from Sheffield.

Newly-relegated Middlesbrough continued selling their best players and they have just recorded the second defeat of the season. Ipswich’s performances are still awful, but the club managed to bring a couple of very good players at the summit of the transfer window, while a couple of players regained full fitness during the international break.

Tiny Scunthorpe took their first scalp this season in the furious home game against Derby (3:2). However, the question is how they plan to stop Middlesborough that finally found their form with a somewhat unexpected and convincing win in Swansea (3:0).

Swansea were the biggest surprise last season (after Burnley) with their excellent and fluent play. Even though they changed the coach, they still have huge potential and Boro arrive at the back of an excellent win in the Cup. The visitors are out of form which was evident in the opening match when they barely managed to draw with Sheffield United. Gareth South will face big problems after this match.

Coca Cola Championship is back and this season the second English league will bring us fallen giants, Newcastle United and Middlesborough. Already in the opening round, we will have the chance to check if Gareth Southgate prepared his Boro that underwent major changes for new challenges in the second league. Their will face one of the strongest teams and last season’s play-offs finalist who were a step away from the Premier League, Sheffield United.

West Ham have lost all the chances to qualify for Europa League after the defeat at Goodison Park but they will, nevertheless, want to say goodbye to their fans with a win. Middlesbrough are in a very difficult situation and even a win in this match would not guarantee them survival.

Bolton have a great chance to make a giant step towards survival by beating struggling Middlesbrough but the Trotters have not been very convincing lately. Boro are already four points adrift of safety and another defeat would make that gap even bigger. They have to try and win this game as one point is simply not enough.

Stoke battled bravely against Everton but they couldn’t get anything out of that match. They will now have the chance to escape the relegation zone and put a dent into Middlesbrough’s survival hopes. Boro snatched one point from the home game against Portsmouth but they will have to improve in order to stop Stoke from winning this match.