Football – England – Championship
Saturday 25th October 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Middlesbrough will be keen to bounce back this weekend following their 0-2 defeat away at Wolves on Tuesday night but will face second placed Watford at the Riverside Stadium.
The loss at Wolves was Middlesbrough’s first in seven matches as they’d put together a decent run of results which has seen them jump into one of the play-off positions. Recent wins over Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Brentford, Fulham and Brighton had been impressive, although Boro’s overall home record stands at a slightly disappointing 3-1-2 11/5.
They’re unbeaten in their last three matches at the Riverside though with the wins over Brentford and Fulham 4-0 and 2-0 respectively, but could only manage a point against bottom club Blackpool in a 1-1 draw.
Visitors Watford were held to a 2-2 draw with 6th placed Nottingham Forest at Vicarage road in the week, and they now make the trip up north to face Middlesbrough who are one league place below them but level on 23 points.
Watford go into this afternoon’s encounter unbeaten in their last seven Championship matches with the break-down being three wins (Blackpool, Brentford & Sheffield Wednesday) and four draws (Bournemouth, Blackburn Rovers, Brighton and Nottingham Forest).
The Hornets’ overall away record stands at 3-1-2 8/6 and they’ve lost just once in their last five on their travels.
It’s interesting to note that Middlesbrough have kept three clean sheets at home, while Watford have registered the same number of shut-outs on the road – could we be in for a 0-0 stalemate I wonder? Well, the scoreline may not be 0-0 specifically, but I believe both sides may well cancel each other out today where a point will not be seen as a bad result for either team. Could be a 1-1 draw perhaps.
Pick: Draw @ 3.60 bet365
