Middlesbrough v Swansea

Middlesbrough vs Swansea City Preview

Having narrowly missed out on claiming a play-off spot at the end of last season, Saturday lunchtime's hosts, Middlesbrough, will be desperate to achieve a top six finish this time around under manager Michael Carrick as Boro finished in eighth place at the end of last term, while Swansea City ended up in the bottom half of the Championship table in a disappointing 14th place.

A miserable run of just one win in seven games from mid-January through to early March saw Middlesbrough collect a solitary but nevertheless impressive 2-1 win away from home at Leicester City but four defeats within this period far outweighed Boro's minimal success as they were dealt blows in the shape of losses to Bristol City, Preston NE, Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City respectively.

Michael Carrick's side responded in positive fashion though by ending their season with just one further loss within their subsequent 12 league matches which included picking up seven wins in the process but this proved to be too little too late for the north-east club.

Carrick will be hoping his Middlesbrough side have learned lessons from last season's campaign and a repeat of their fourth place finish at the end of the 2022/23 season certainly isn't out of the question.

Swansea City's inconsistent streak was evident pretty much throughout last season's Championship campaign as The Swans ended up in a disappointing 14th place in the English second tier standings and just seven points above the bottom three clubs.

The Welsh club's best period of results in last season's campaign proved to be all the way back from the end of September through to early October which produced four league wins on the trot which came in the form of useful victories against the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall, Norwich City and Plymouth Argyle respectively.

However, an overall distribution of 15 wins, 12 draws but 19 defeats hampered Swansea City's plans of achieving at least a top half finish and now it's up to manager Luke Williams to pick his players up and inspire them to greater heights this time around.

Results away from home will certainly need addressing this season as Swansea City finished last season's campaign having registered just three wins in their final 13 outings on the road which also included being dealt four defeats as well, and this upcoming trip to the Riverside Stadium to face Middlesbrough looks a tough assignment for Luke Williams and his Swansea side.

Middlesbrough v Swansea City Verdict

Swansea City have kept just two clean sheets in their last 15 away games in the Championship and this could play right into Middlesbrough's hands in this opening game of the season at the Riverside Stadium, especially as Middlesbrough have won five of the last six meetings.

Therefore, our main bet will be Middlesbrough win @ 1.85

Other side bets worth considering:

Middlesbrough win & Under 2.5 goals @ 5.00

Correct Score: Middlesbrough 2-0 @ 10.00