Middlesbrough v Sunderland: Team news predictions odds


Our match pack for Middlesbrough v Sunderland includes team news, statistics, manager quotes, odds & our prediction.

The game kicks off at 1945 BST at the Riverside Stadium.

Middlesbrough v Sunderland: Team news


Middlesbrough midfielder Gaston Ramirez will miss Wednesday night's must-win Premier League showdown with derby rivals Sunderland through suspension.

The Uruguay international will sit out after being sent off for a second bookable offence during Saturday's 4-0 defeat at Bournemouth, and will be joined on the sidelines by keeper Victor Valdes, who is struggling to shake of a rib injury.

However, former Sunderland player Grant Leadbitter has a chance of being involved after returning to training following a hamstring problem, as does fellow midfielder Marten de Roon (ankle).

Sunderland manager David Moyes is remaining tight-lipped over an injury concern.

Moyes admits he is assessing one player, but declined to name him, while full-back Bryan Oviedo (hamstring) and long-term absentees Paddy McNair and Duncan Watmore (both knee) - the latter of whom may require a second operation - remain on the sidelines.

Midfielder Sebastian Larsson serves the second leg of his three-match ban, but defender Billy Jones has returned to training after suffering concussion during the 2-2 draw with West Ham last time out.

Teams

Middlesbrough (from): Guzan, Konstantopoulos, Barragan, Friend, Fabio, Chambers, Gibson, Espinosa, Ayala, Husband, Fry, De Roon, Clayton, Forshaw, Leadbitter, Guedioura, Downing, Stuani, Traore, Fischer, Negredo, Gestede, Bamford. 

Sunderland (from): Pickford, Mannone, Jones, Manquillo, Denayer, Love, O'Shea, Kone, Djilobodji, Lescott, Cattermole, Ndong, Gibson, Borini, Januzaj, Pienaar, Khazri, Honeyman, Defoe, Anichebe, Maja. 

Middlesbrough v Sunderland: Manager quotes


Steve Agnew (Middlesbrough)

"The first thing is we need the three points; secondly, the players are determined to put on a show for the supporters; and thirdly, there has to be a reaction after the disappointment of Saturday [4-0 defeat at Bournemouth].

"We have to win the game and that's what we will be setting out to do. Three points is everything we need (on Wednesday night) and that's the target.

"If you look at any team that hasn't won since December, then obviously the confidence is in the balance. We have to keep working away at it, and we have, and will continue to do that.

"What I have seen from Sunday is a very focused group that is determined to put a show on for the supporters in a north-east derby.

"There will be 30,000 Teessiders in the stadium (on Wednesday night) with a good following from Sunderland, so the passion and the energy that will come from the Middlesbrough fans is everything that the players will need."

David Moyes (Sunderland)

On the club's survival bid: "There's still a chance and while there's a chance, we're going to try to take it. That chance comes at Middlesbrough on Wednesday and we will try to take our chance. If we can take our chance there, then we will have another chance against Bournemouth on Saturday.

"We're not stupid, but we are in there fighting and we still think we have got a good chance. Look, we don't have enough games left to think that we can let the games slip by. We are well aware of that."

On Fabio Borini's celebration in the 2-2 draw with West Ham: "I was thrilled about his celebration because he had scored us a goal. But I think I'd have really liked him to have gone and picked the ball out of the net and put it in the centre circle because we needed to score a winner to get three points.

"I don't think it's nice when you're not winning most weeks, and that's the thing. You want to win, you come into football to win. At the moment, we are not winning, so that's the hard bit to take."

Middlesbrough v Sunderland: Our prediction 


Ben Coley writes...

David Moyes evidently believes that Sunderland have a chance not only to beat Middlesbrough but to somehow maintain their Premier League status.

"There's still a chance (1) and while there's a chance (2), we're going to try to take it,” he said on Tuesday.

“That chance (3) comes at Middlesbrough on Wednesday and we will try to take our chance (4).

"If we can take our chance (5) there, then we will have another chance (6) against Bournemouth on Saturday.

"We're not stupid, but we are in there fighting and we still think we have got a good chance (7)."

If Sunderland were to survive from here, it would be among the most remarkable turnarounds ever performed in the division and it’s near impossible to envisage them doing so without a victory at Boro, a side without a league win since December.

This is a side whose chances - of which there have been more than seven - have come and gone, and while they've escaped jail before, never have they done so from 12 points adrift in the final week of April.

Middlesbrough’s plight is only slightly less desperate and the reality is that these sides will play each other twice more next season as they try to return to the top flight via the Sky Bet Championship – regardless of what happens here.

Steve Agnew inherited a Boro squad low on confidence and lacking in the basic tools required to fight their way out of a perilous situation and while this is the easiest task the home side have had for some time, it’s hard to understand why they’d be quite so well-supported at a skinny 5/4.

Granted, Boro put up a fight against Arsenal in their last game at the Riverside, but they had previously failed to beat a Burnley side who don’t travel at all well and a lack of firepower is the main reason for their position.

On that score, Sunderland may hold a very slight advantage and at 5/2 would get the token vote, but the bottom line is these are two poor, desperate sides and it’s only the latter factor which would put me off a shade of odds-on about under 2.5 goals from comfortably the league’s lowest-scoring pair.

Should desperation reveal itself in an atypically open game, Fabio Borini might pop up again as he tends to do at this time of year and did at the weekend (7/2 anytime), but it seems clear he doesn’t have the total faith of his manager and a supporting role from the bench is again possible.

Ultimately, both sides are missing important midfield influences through suspension and goals could well be at a premium in a game whose whole atmosphere may be rather drab. There are far worse bets than no goalscorer at 9/1.

Prediction: Middlesbrough 0-0 Sunderland

Middlesbrough v Sunderland: Opta facts



o Middlesbrough are winless in their last three Premier League encounters against Sunderland at the Riverside (D2 L1), last facing off in the top-flight in January 2009 (1-1 draw).

o Since that January 2009 fixture, they have only met at the Riverside in the FA Cup Fourth Round in February 2012, with the Black Cats winning 2-1 thanks to an extra-time winner from Stephane Sessegnon.

o Middlesbrough have won just one of their last 10 North East derbies in the Premier League (W1 D6 L3), though that win came against Sunderland in their most recent encounter.

o On the day of this game, Sunderland will have spent 236 days in the relegation zone this season. The record for a single season is held by Sheffield Wednesday in 1999-00 (278 days) and if Sunderland remain in the bottom three between now and the end of the season they can only reach 261 days in 2016-17.

o There have been 10 occasions of the side in 19th place playing the bottom of the league side in a Premier League match since the start of 2012-13 and only one of those games have been won by the team that’s bottom of the league (L5 D4), though that was Sunderland in April 2014 against Cardiff, a 4-0 win.

o These two clubs are the lowest scoring teams in the 2016-17 Premier League season so far: Middlesbrough (23 goals) and Sunderland (26 goals).

o Middlesbrough have played out seven 0-0 draws in the Premier League so far this season – the record in a single PL campaign is nine (Sheffield United in 1993/94, Leeds in 1996/97 and Sunderland in 2014/15). 

o Indeed, the Riverside Stadium has seen fewer goals than any other Premier League ground this season (32 – scored 13, conceded 19).

o Jermain Defoe’s Premier League goal drought now stands at eight games and 765 minutes, since he netted twice in the 45th minute at Crystal Palace on February 4th.

o David Moyes’ side have been trailing for 18 hours and 58 minutes this season – longer than any other Premier League side.


Middlesbrough v Sunderland: Sky Bet odds


Middlesbrough are Sky Bet’s 6/5 favourites for the bottom-of-the-table battle, with a Sunderland win and the draw both priced at 23/10. Both sides are now 100/1 to avoid relegation, with the Black Cats 2/7 to finish bottom of the table. Alvaro Negredo heads the first goalscorer betting at 4/1 followed by Jermain Defoe at 5/1, with the strike duo 11/2 to both find the net.

Click for Sky Bet's Middlesbrough v Sunderland odds!



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