Middlesbrough vs Hull Prediction: Expect a tight affair at the Riverside

Two promotion-chasing clubs looking to snap two-game losing runs meet on Wednesday when Middlesbrough welcome Hull City to the Riverside Stadium.

Boro are looking to bounce back from setbacks against two of the current top three in the Championship, with those losses to Leeds and Ipswich having left Michael Carrick’s men down in mid-division again.

Hull remain within touching distance of the play-off positions despite suffering back-to-back defeats to inconsistent Watford and struggling Queens Park Rangers.

Match Odds

Middlesbrough are 5/6 to win the game, with Hull City the outsiders at 3/1 to pick up all three points – while the draw is a 11/4 chance.

Both teams to score is on offer at 8/11 in this one, with over 2.5 goals a 4/5 chance.

Team News

Middlesbrough were without nine first-team players against Ipswich on Saturday and, although none of the injured contingent will be back in time to face Hull, Carrick’s options will be boosted by the return of defender Anfernee Dijksteel and winger Isaiah Jones after respective suspensions.

Dijksteel could replace Matthew Clarke in defence while Jones is expected to come in for Sam Greenwood on the right-hand side.

Key midfielder Hayden Hackney remains out with a groin issue while attackers Riley McGree (foot) and Marcus Forss (thigh) are not yet ready to return.

Hull’s on-loan wing-back Ruben Vinagre is in contention to feature for the first time in over a month after overcoming a hamstring problem.

Centre-back Alfie Jones is available for selection again but important wide men Jaden Philogene (knee) and Jason Lokilo (hamstring) will miss the trip to the Riverside.

Both Teams To Score – No @ EVS

Middlesbrough’s home Championship results this season have largely been determined by whether or not they have scored the first goal. Carrick’s team have won every time they have opened the scoring and lost four of the six matches in which they have conceded first.

Both teams have scored in only two of those 10 home league fixtures, which is the joint-lowest figure of all the 24 teams in the division and well below the average of 54%.

Hull have started to encounter some scoring problems, having failed to register a goal in the last 170 minutes of league football.

Their issues could be exacerbated by the loss of the lively Philogene to injury, as the on-loan Aston Villa man had contributed six goals and five assists in his 14 appearances.

Boro’s defence will be close to full strength again with the return of Dijksteel from a ban and they should prevent a formidable barrier to Hull’s weakened attack.

Likewise, Hull welcome back one of their top defenders in Jones and could make things tough for the hosts if Liam Rosenior takes the view that a draw would be a good result.

Total Corners – Under 9.5 @ EVS

Some games scream action and goals while some do not — with this one looking more like the latter. Both teams have taken a knock to their confidence levels after poor results and the two managers are having to cope without key players at the moment.

This could be a cagey affair and, if that is the case, we could see a reduced incidence of shots and corners.

Hull’s average corner count drops from 5.7 to 5.0 when Philogene does not play while the average number of corners in Boro games slides from 11.7 to under 10 when Hackney is absent.

With both players missing, a bet on under 9.5 corners appeals greatly.

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