For the first time in their cup run, Port Vale will go up against a team from a higher division, and we think that the gulf in quality could help Middlesbrough claim a relatively comfortable victory to seal their place the semi-finals.
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Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Middlesbrough win with a probability of 40.79%. A win for Port Vale had a probability of 34.52% and a draw had a probability of 24.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Middlesbrough win was 1-2 with a probability of 8.77%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-1 (8.34%) and 0-2 (6.35%). The likeliest Port Vale win was 2-1 (7.96%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.52%). The actual scoreline of 0-3 was predicted with a 3.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Middlesbrough would win this match.
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