MIDDLESBROUGH v ASTON VILLA
Saturday 12th May 2018 – Kickoff: 1715hrs
Football – England – Championship Betting Tips
Just one club out of the last four remaining in the Championship play-offs will achieve promotion and join already promoted Wolves and Cardiff City in their quest to reach the ‘holy grail’ and Premier League football next season.
Middlesbrough have reached the play-off semi-finals after being guided to a fifth place finish in the second tier by experienced manager, Tony Pulis, who joined Boro on Boxing Day after the departure of former manager, Garry Monk. Pulis has moulded Middlesbrough into genuine promotion contenders since his arrival, particularly at the Riverside Stadium where they ended their campaign with a 14-3-6 33/17 record.
The hosts won three of their last four overall with wins over Bristol City, Derby County and Millwall – the former and latter being teams that were pushing for the play-offs, while Derby finished in sixth place.
More importantly, Boro finished their season off in strong fashion on home turf where they chalked up seven wins from their last eight, while they possess some dangerous attacking personnel in the shape of Assombalonga, Traore, Bamford and former Villa striker, Gestede.
Aston Villa made the play-offs thanks to a solid fourth place finish in the Championship under manager, Steve Bruce, and he’s no stranger to guiding a west midlands club back to the top flight as he’d previously achieved promotion with Villa’s fierce rivals, Birmingham City.
Villa blew a chance to grab a last minute automatic promotion spot following a 1-1 draw with Derby County and a last day defeat away at Millwall, and although they hold a very decent looking home record which ended up on 14-7-2 42/19, the west midlands club really struggled on the road towards the end of the season as The Villains registered just one win from their last five on their travels.
Defeats at Bolton Wanderers, Norwich City and Millwall perhaps show Aston Villa’s weakness, and it’s down to Middlesbrough to get a first leg lead here.
Pick: Middlesbrough AH0 @ 1.65 Bet Victor looks a solid bet
