Our prediction for this Championship match:
Middlesbrough
Match Time & Date:
26/12/2021
16:00
Prediction: 1-1
Nottingham Forest
Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest go head to head at Riverside Stadium in the Championship round 24. The Boro aim to build on a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bournemouth, and a win in the Boxing Day clash could see them climb to the playoffs berth. Slovenia international Andraz Sporar should continue to lead the line for the hosts, while midfielder Marcus Browne remains in the recovery room.
The Reds, on the other hand, are eyeing their fourth consecutive win in the Championship. Forest have been showing signs of improvement of late, but beating the Boro at Riverside Stadium is easier said than done. A close encounter is on the cards, and, taking everything into account, we believe that there is a big value in betting on draw. Both Max Lowe and Loic Mbe Soh are out of contention through injuries for the visiting team.
Highlighted Player (Sol Bamba):
Souleymane “Sol” Bamba is an Ivory Coast international who plays for Leeds United in the Championship. The defender spent five years in PSG youth school (1999-2004) and he made no more than one league appearance for the first team.
In July 2006 he signed for Scottish team Dunfermline and after spending two years at East End Park, he moved to fellow Scottish Premier League club Hibernian in 2008. Sol Bamba played as a centre back for the Hibs and he was producing brilliant performances with the Easter Road outfit.
The Ivory Coast defender used to play for the likes of Leicester City, Trabzonspor and Palermo in the past as well and on 24 June, 2015 he signed a permanent deal with Leeds United. Bamba made his Ivory Coast debut in 2008 in a friendly game against Israel. Over the years he has established himself as Ivory Coast first-team regular, but he was surprisingly omitted from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Ivory Coast squad. Bamba is a 190-cm-tall centre back and he is well known for his aerial skills and brilliant tackles.
Highlighted Team (Nottingham Forest):
Nottingham Forest, the club that are often referred to as Forest, were formed in 1865. They have been playing their home games at the City Ground since 1898 and the capacity of the stadium is 30,445. Nottingham Forest are regarded as one of the greatest English clubs as they won the European Cup on two occasions. In 1979 Forest outplayed Malmo (1-0) at the Olympiastadion in Munich in the final of the elite competition, with the team beating Hamburg in 1980 in the title game at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu (1-0).
Nottingham Forest won the national championship in the 1977/1978 season, with the team finishing the campaign seven points clear of second-placed Liverpool. To make things even better for the fans, the City Ground outfit clinched the FA Cup trophies in 1898 and 1959. Derby County are regarded as Forest’s bitterest rivals and the two local rivals contest in the East Midlands derby. In their first ever meeting in the local derby Forest recorded a 3-2 win over Derby County.
