With McCarthy at the helm, Blackpool could improve defensively over the coming weeks and months. Nevertheless, Middlesbrough have generally been excellent under Carrick, and we expect a relatively comfortable afternoon for the home side.
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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 62.41%. A draw had a probability of 21.9% and a win for Blackpool had a probability of 15.67%.
The most likely scoreline for a Middlesbrough win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.99%) and 2-1 (9.71%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.39%), while for a Blackpool win it was 0-1 (5.56%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 7.5% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Middlesbrough would win this match.
-0.26) 
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