ASTON VILLA v MIDDLESBROUGH
Tuesday 15th May 2018 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Football – England – Championship Betting Tips
Aston Villa recorded what could turn out to be a huge 1-0 win away at The Riverside Stadium against Middlesbrough in the first leg of this Championship semi-final play-off, as they now return to Villa Park to finish the job of securing a place in the play-off final.
Aston Villa certainly now seem to be in the driving seat to claim their place at Wembley Stadium, and along with three wins from their last four at Villa Park with wins over Reading, Cardiff City and Leeds United, as well as an overall home record which finished up at 14-7-2 42/19, they’re now favourites to progress.
However, as we are all aware, the play-offs rarely follow the script, so Villa will need to ensure they put in a good shift on Tuesday night. I’m expecting manager, Steve Bruce, to set his side up accordingly, and won’t be taking any unnecessary risks, so it’s likely he’ll stick with the same 4-1-4-1 formation here as in the first leg.
Middlesbrough created very little in terms of goalscoring opportunities although they enjoyed the lions share of possession at the Riverside, but ultimately, Boro came away with nothing and now have to push the envelope at Villa Park where they’ve been unbeaten in their last two visits in recent times.
A 0-0 draw in the Championship was followed with a 2-0 win in the League Cup a week later back in September, and although Middlesbrough have lost the last two meetings against Villa, both of these defeats were on home turf.
Boro have certainly tightened things up since the arrival of manager, Tony Pulis, particularly away from home where they’ve lost just once in their last seven matches on the road, which was a 2-1 loss at Sheffield United.
Villa just need a clean sheet to go through to the final, while Middlesbrough now need to take risks in order to wipe out this one-goal deficit, and I can see a low scoring game here.
Pick: Under 2.5 @ 1.59 Marathonbet
