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Championship | Gameweek 40
Apr 5, 2021 at 12.30pm UK
Riverside Stadium
WL

Middlesbrough
1 - 1
Watford

Bolasie (78')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Sarr (32')
Chalobah (25')

Preview: Middlesbrough vs. Watford - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Middlesbrough vs. Watford - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Monday's Championship clash between Middlesbrough and Watford, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

Watford will be looking to tighten their grip on an automatic promotion spot in the Championship when they travel to top-six chasing Middlesbrough on Monday afternoon.

The Hornets have won six games in a row to open up a healthy gap on the chasing pack, while Boro have lost back-to-back matches to lose ground on the playoffs.


Match preview

A somewhat controversial Tom Lees own goal proved the difference as Watford edged out strugglers Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Vicarage Road on Good Friday.

It was far from a convincing victory for the Hornets in their first game back from the international break, but the three points is all that counts.

With third-placed Swansea City losing at Birmingham City later in the day, Watford are nine points clear of the Welsh side, who do still have a game in hand to play.

Brentford can move to within four points of Watford if they win their two games in hand, the first of those away to Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon.

That points margin could come in handy as Xisco's side face Boro, Reading, Norwich City, Brentford and Swansea in five of their remaining seven games - an extremely tough run.

Any sort of slip-up could just allow the chasing pack to close in, then, and Monday's trip to the Riverside Stadium is far from a straightforward assignment.

Boro have won back-to-back matches on home soil without conceding, seeing off Stoke City 3-0 and Preston North End 2-0, and are without a defeat there in three.

However, Neil Warnock's men have lost to Millwall and Bournemouth in their last two games either side of the international break, leaving them with a lot of work to do.

The 3-1 reverse at Bournemouth on Friday could prove particularly costly, with that loss seeing the gap on the top six increase to seven points.

Warnock-managed sides do not tend to do well against Watford, either, with the veteran coach losing 17 league matches against them down the years - his joint-most as a manager in the top four tiers of English football, alongside Reading.

Another defeat on Monday, combined with other results going against them, and Boro's outside promotion hopes will surely be over for another season.

Middlesbrough Championship form:
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • L

Watford Championship form:
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W



Team News

Middlesbrough were without Dael Fry and Marcus Tavernier for their defeat at the Vitality Stadium. Warnock later confirmed that they will miss three weeks and a week respectively.

Paddy McNair was forced to play at the back against Bournemouth, despite being in action for Northern Ireland less than 48 hours beforehand, and he is likely to start again here.

Warnock has repeatedly called out his strikers and went without a recognised centre-forward on Friday, but he will surely be tempted to change things around versus Watford.

The visitors welcomed midfielder Philip Zinckernagel back into their starting lineup against Wednesday, while Ismaila Sarr recovered from a knock in time to feature.

Xisco may opt to change things around slightly given the quick turnaround in matches, so Ken Sema and Dan Gosling are contenders to come into the XI.

Isaac Success has yet to score in five Championship outings for Watford, but he is still in contention to lead the line at the Riverside. Captain Troy Deeney remains sidelined.

Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Bettinelli; Fisher, Hall, McNair, Bola; Saville, Howson, Morsy; Tavernier, Fletcher, Kebano

Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Femenia, Troost-Ekong, Sierralta, Masina; Chalobah, Hughes, Zinckernagel; Sema, Success, Pedro


We say: Middlesbrough 0-1 Watford

Watford have won six games in a row, whereas Middlesbrough's promotion charge has halted with back-to-back losses on their travels.

Boro have won none of their last eight league games against Watford, meanwhile, and have failed to even score in the last four of those, so we are going with an away win here.



Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a draw or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Draw/Away:data




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Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Ipswich TownIpswich432611685533289
2Leicester CityLeicester422841079384188
3Leeds UnitedLeeds43269876344287
4Southampton42259884543084
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4320121166422472
6Norwich CityNorwich432181476601671
7Hull City421811136254865
8Coventry CityCoventry4217121366521463
9Middlesbrough43189166156563
10Preston North EndPreston43189165660-463
11Cardiff CityCardiff43185204860-1259
12Bristol City431610175046458
13Sunderland43168195250256
14Swansea CitySwansea431411185362-953
15Watford431216155958152
16Millwall431311194255-1350
17Blackburn RoversBlackburn431310205771-1449
18Plymouth ArgylePlymouth431212195866-848
19Queens Park RangersQPR431211204057-1747
20Stoke CityStoke431211204160-1947
21Birmingham CityBirmingham43129224864-1645
22Huddersfield TownHuddersfield43917174770-2344
23Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds43128233667-3144
RRotherham UnitedRotherham43411283285-5323
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