Football – England – Championship
Saturday 20th December 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Next up is a top-of-the-table clash between fourth placed Ipswich Town and second placed Middlesbrough when the two teams meet at Portman Road on Saturday afternoon.
Ipswich were held to a dour 0-0 draw away at Bolton Wanderers last weekend but that point extended their unbeaten run to eight league matches and the Tractor Boys remain just one point adrift of Championship leaders Bournemouth.
Indeed, Ipswich are on a solid run of form going into today’s clash as they’ve lost just once in their last seventeen Championship matches which was an away loss at Cardiff City, while their overall home record stands at an impressive 7-2-1 18/7. They’ve won their last three home matches on the trot with victories over Wolves, Watford and Leeds United but will have their work cut out when Middlesbrough come to visit this afternoon having lost just twice on their travels so far this term.
Onto Middlesbrough then, and Karanka’s side jumped into second place after last Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Derby County who surrendered their place at the top of the Championship to in-form Bournemouth.
That win on Saturday extended Middlesbrough’s unbeaten run to eight matches which incidentally consists of four wins and four draws, while their overall away form has also been pretty consistent as they hold a record of 6-2-2 16/8 and they’ve won two of their last three on their travels.
Boro’s likely anytime goalscorers are midfielder Leadbitter (9 goals) and forward Bamford (7 goals) who have provided almost half of Middlesbrough’s total goals so far this season.
Ipswich also possess the Championship’s leading goalscorer overall in striker Darryl Murphy and I suspect that both teams’ attacking and defensive personnel may well cancel each other out today with both teams keen to avoid defeat here. This may well be another 1-1 draw.
Pick: Draw @ 3.40 bet365
