Middlesbrough vs. Norwich Betting Tips: Best bets including a 28/1 Bet Builder

Middlesbrough host Norwich City in the Championship live on Sky Sports on Friday evening with both teams still hopeful of promotion this season. We’ve got Anthony Eadson on hand with his best bets for the occasion.

Heading into the weekend, Michael Carrick’s side currently occupy fourth place in the table. Automatic promotion looks to now be out of their reach with an eight point gap between themselves and Sheffield United in second, while The Blades have a game in hand over the sides below them. 

Norwich are one of seven clubs who are separated by just five points in the second-tier standings. The Canaries have 61 points, but a win at the Riverside Stadium would propel them from eighth, all the way to fifth, allowing David Wagner’s men to dream of a return back to the promised-land.

Since Michael Carrick took the job at Middlesbrough his side have been relentless with many expecting them to chase down Sheffield United in second. However, that form has hit a bit of a speed bump in recent weeks with three games without a win. 

I’m therefore staying away from the match result market after defeats against Burnley and Huddersfield before a point against Bristol City, and I’m backing Boro to score Over 1.5 team goals. 

At the time of writing, William Hill are the best-priced of all the betting sites with this market available with 17/20 on show. Only Burnley (78), have scored more goals than Middlesbrough this season (74). They have the ability to blow teams away with their attacking style and have scored Over 1.5 goals in 17 of their last 22 Championship matches.

For those looking for something at a bit more of a price, I’ve picked out a longshot at 28/1. The first of three selections in this Bet Builder is for Chuba Akpom to score. Top scorer with 26 Championship goals this term, Akpom has bagged eight more goals than any other player in the division. The 27-year-old has scored in six of his last seven matches and looks a fair price in the market at around 13/10 to find the net once again. 

I’ve picked out two players to pick up a booking here with Hayden Hackney being the first of those. Last season for Scunthorpe the youngster was shown 12 yellow cards in just 28 League-Two appearances. This campaign, he’s collected eight in 28 league starts since moving up the coast to Boro and with plenty on the line here and the home side desperate to get their first win in three, I like the look of Hackney for a card. 

Rounding off this 28/1 shout is Max Aarons to also find his way into the referee’s notebook. No player has been shown more yellows for Norwich this season than Aarons with ten in the league. He was also carded in his only appearance in the FA Cup this season when his side were beaten 1-0 in January by Blackburn Rovers.