Blackburn vs Middlesbrough Prediction: Boro's top scorer at centre of the action

Live on Sky Sports, Blackburn Rovers host Middlesbrough in the Championship at the Ewood Park this Monday at 7.45pm. The hosts come into this game off the back of a disappointing 2-0 loss against a poor Hull City side. However, they are still a formidable side when it comes to playing at home. Their last 6 home games have seen 5 wins and a draw and overall they have the 2nd best home record in the league. Star striker Brereton Diaz is tearing the league apart and is on 20 goals already. However, news has come in that he will be on international duty and so will be absent for this clash which is a massive blow for the home side.

The visitors come into this game in splendid form unbeaten in 7 league games winning 6 of them. Having been behind for 84 minutes against Reading, they made a dramatic comeback to win the game 2-1 through a 95th minute Crooks winner. That win should certainly lift their spirits and make them believe that they can go to Blackburn and get all 3 points especially now that Blackburn’s top scorer is out of the game. Their reverse leg earlier this season ended in a feisty 1-1 draw with both teams having a man sent off and we could be in for another cracking Monday night clash in the Championship.

An intriguing and hugely significant fixture awaits us in the battle for promotion and as usual I have you covered with my 2 best betting angles for this game included in the preview below:

Team News:

Brereton Diaz, Bradley Dack, Harry Pickering & Ian Poveda-Ocampo are out for Blackburn Rovers.

Marcus Browne, Marc Bola & James Lea Siliki are out for Middlesbrough.

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
 Kaminski; Van Hecke, Lenihan, Wharton; Nyambe, Travis, Rothwell, Edun; Buckley; Gallagher, Khadra

Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
 Lumley; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Jones, Crooks, Howson, Taylor; Tavernier; Sporar, Balogun

Middlesbrough are currently one of the most in form teams in the league with 5 wins in a row and are unbeaten on their travels in their last 5 games as well. With Blackburn missing their top-scorer Brereton, Middlesbrough will have the advantage here in a tight game. Blackburn put in a disappointing display against Hull City last weekend in a 2-0 loss and without their star striker, they will have to be at their absolute best if they want to get back to winning ways against an in-form Boro side. With form and team news in their favour, value seems to be with the away side so we will take Middlesbrough Draw No Bet @ 1/1 with a 1pt stake as our main bet for this game.

Matt Crooks is Middlesbrough’s joint top scorer with 6 goals to his name and he scored 2 goals in their 2-1 win over Reading last weekend in a dramatic comeback. He is also their 2nd most booked player with 7 yellow cards and averages the most fouls (1.7) for this Boro side. Combining these 2 selections gives us a juicy longshot double @ 17/1 with Paddypower and I am happy to stake a very small 0.25pt stake on that.

Best of luck if you follow these selections. Please always gamble responsibly.