Sheffield Wednesday v Middlesbrough Betting Tip Under 2.5 goals – 19 October 2018

Defences to be on top at Hillsborough

Championship Tips

Friday 19th October 1945hrs Sheffield Wednesday v Middlesbrough Football – England – Championship The domestic action returns this weekend and I think I speak for the majority when I say it’s a very welcome one at that. Our first preview of this weekend’s action takes us to the Championship on Friday night and a clash between two of the top six. Now a dozen games into the campaign and it’s looking more and more like there will be a host of clubs competing for the automatic promotion spots as well as playoff positions so games against each other will be even more important this season. Continue reading for a fascinating clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough with a best betting tip selection.

Sheffield Wednesday sneaked into the top six just before the international break courtesy of a 2-1 win away to Bristol City. It was their third away success of the season which is one more win than they’ve mustered at home but they remain unbeaten at Hillsborough and will be looking forward to testing themselves against one of the Championship’s biggest spenders on Friday evening. Head Coach Jos Luhukay took charge at the beginning of this year and following an underwhelming beginning to his spell he has certainly steadied the ship and given renewed confidence to this Owls’ squad. There’s still plenty of them who were part of the team who reached the playoff final back in 2016 and that will be their aim again in what looks like a very packed top half of the table. This period between international breaks represents a crucial stage of their season, though, as they three games against QPR, Birmingham and Norwich where they will be hopeful of collecting points sandwiched between Friday’s game with ‘Boro and the first Steel City derby of the season – against their bitter rivals Sheffield United who just happen to be sitting top of the table just now.

Tony Pulis will have been pleased with his team’s overall start to the season but there’s also going to be a tinge of frustration going into the international break considering ‘Boro had a chance to go top of the table. As it turned out they lost 2-0 and as a result dropped to fourth – to make matters worse the defeat came at the hands of Nottingham Forest who are now led by former Riverside boss Aitor Karanka. It would have been a long break for Pulis and his players who would be desperate to get going again and that starts with this away trip to Wednesday. Form on the road for Middlesbrough has been somewhat below par with only two wins from their first six – that said it’s still just the one defeat on their travels and that came last month at Carrow Road against Norwich. It’s likely that their home form is going to be one of the strongest in the Championship and if they are able to improve their fortunes on the road then Pulis’ men could pull clear of most of these teams but that’s a big if and Friday will be another measure of how rounded this expensively assembled group of players are.

Sheffield Wednesday v Middlesbrough Betting Tip

We know the challenges of the Championship and it’s the most difficult league due to the number of games and schedule that all teams have to cope with. The first quarter or so of the season suggests that there isn’t going to be an outstanding team like Wolves last year who were able to pull well clear of their opponents. Instead we could well get a situation where half a dozen teams are competing for much of the season in pursuit of those top two places whilst another 10 have their eyes on the playoffs. That may well mirror Friday’s game with ‘Boro amongst the favourites to go up automatically facing a Wednesday team who will now be sensing they can at least finish in the top six.

Middlesbrough have the best defensive record in the league and that should be no surprise from a team managed by Pulis. Heading into Friday’s game and they’ve conceded just six goals in their 12 games which is a remarkable record. The hosts have the third highest home goals tally but they also concede more than one goal a game so it’s very much a contrast of styles. The visitors have been involved in just one game on the road that has seen three or more goals scored in it and that’s a trend I can see continuing on Friday.

Selection: Under 2.5 goals 8/11 @ Unibet