Middlesbrough vs Swansea City
England Premier League.
Date: Saturday, 17th December 2016,
Kick-off at 15:00 UK.
Venue: Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough.
Middlesbrough is reeling right now with two straight losses and five winless games in the last six rounds of English top flight competitions. They are 17th in the overall standings at the moment, just three points above the bottom three relegation zone.
The team is tied on points with 16th-place squad Crystal Palace but has a lesser goal difference.
Middlesbrough was crushed by second-running team Liverpool, 0-3, in their most recent fixture on Wednesday held also at their home ground of Riverside Stadium, as per the Mirror.
Head coach Aitor Karanka's squad was shutout for the second consecutive game as the team is evidently having problems in their offense these past few weeks.
English midfielder Adam Lallana netted a brace in the 29th and 68th minutes while Belgian forward Divock Origi had one goal in the 60th to complete Liverpool's three-goal haul in the match.
Meanwhile, Swansea City continued to struggle this season as the team has been winless in four of their last six games.
The Swans are coming off a 1-3 defeat in the hands of West Bromwich Albion on the road at the Hawthorns also on Wednesday for their second loss in three matches, Sports Mole reported.
West Brom scored the first three goals of the contest with a hat trick from Venezuelan forward Salomon Rondon in the 50th, 61st, and 63rd minutes before head coach Bob Bradley's boys were able to score a consolation goal courtesy of English winger Wayne Routledge in the 78th.
Both teams are not in their top form right now, but the Swans are the slight favorites to win this match.
Prediction and Predicted Lineup
The predicted result is a tough 1-0 decision for Swansea City.
Middlesbrough starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Valdes; Da Silva, Gibson, Chambers, Barragan; de Roon, Forshaw, Clayton; Fischer, Traore, Negredo
Swansea City starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Fabianski; Taylor, Amat, Rangel, Mawson; Montero, Sigurdsson; Fulton, Routledge, Britton; Llorente
Middlesbrough vs Swansea City: Head-to-head stats
This will be the first meeting between Middlesbrough and Swansea City since 2012. The last match was in the EFL cup which was won by Swansea on a narrow 1-0 margin at the Liberty Stadium.
Swansea are currently on a four match unbeaten run against Boro in all competitions with 3 wins and a draw.
Their last match at the Riverside Stadium on 2011 was an absolute thriller which saw Swansea coming back from 3-1 down to snatch a 4-3 win.
Middlesbrough vs Swansea City: Head-to-head stats
This is a fixture between the worst home team in the league versus worst away side. However, the head-to-head favours Swansea and they are also the side which have shown some improvements in recent weeks. To be honest Boro are a side in real trouble and they are often too defensive in their approach. Therefore, our main pick for this game is to back Swansea to remain unbeaten.
Middlesbrough vs Swansea City: Bet Tips
Double Chance – Draw or Swansea at 1.83 (5/6)
Under 2.5 goals at 1.80 (4/5).
