Our prediction for this Championship match:
Buoyed by back-to-back wins over Cardiff City and Stoke City, Middlesbrough will look to book their place in the playoffs when they take on Preston in the decider. The Boro face a must-win situation at Deepdale, and they have no other option but to go all guns blazing at the Lilywhites. There are no fresh injury worries in the away team ahead of the trip to Lancashire. Preston, on the other hand, are stuck in the middle of the table with 61 points in their pocket.
The Lilywhites have nothing to play for in Saturday’s clash, which is probably the main reason why away win should be considered. All Andrew Hughes, Ryan Ledson, Ched Evans, and Isaiah Brown are out of contention through injuries for the home team. In the first half of the season Preston defeated Middlesbrough, meaning that the visitors are hungry for revenge.
Highlighted Player (Scott Sinclair):
At the age of nine, Scott Sinclair joined Bristol Rovers youth school and seven years later he signed a deal with Chelsea. However, the winger played no more than five league games for Chelsea as he spent a big part of his career on loan at Plymouth, QPR, Charlton, Crystal Palace, Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, WBA and Aston Villa. He played for Swansea City between 2010 and 2012, scoring 28 goals in 82 league appearances for the Welsh outfit.
On 19 May, 2015 Sinclair signed a permanent deal with Aston Villa, but he failed to impress in the 2015/2016 Premier League campaign. He scored only two goals in 21 league appearances for the team and the Villans eventually dropped to the Championship.
The Aston Villa winger, who is capable of playing on both sides of the field, has 7 caps for England U21 and it has to be noted that he made 4 appearances for Great Britain, scoring one goal for Team GB. Scott Sinclair was born in Bath, England on 25 March, 1989.
Highlighted Team (Middlesbrough):
Middlesbrough is a professional football club that have been balancing between the top two divisions of England’s league system in the modern history. Boro have been playing their home games at the Riverside Stadium since 1995 and their shirt colour is red. The capacity of the Riverside Stadium is 34,742. Middlesbrough impressed in the 2015/2016 Championship campaign and they did really well to secure promotion to the English top flight. Newcastle United and Sunderland are regarded as the club’s main rivals, but there is a rivalry with Leeds United as well.
Middlesbrough made it to the FA Cup final in 1997, but Chelsea proved to be a big catch for the Boro in the title game (0-2). However, the Riverside Stadium outfit did remarkably well to win the League Cup trophy in 2004, with the team beating Bolton Wanderers in the final. George Boateng, Stewart Downing, Juninho Paulista, Gareth Southgate, Jonathan Woodgate, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Tuncay Sanli and Hamilton Ricard are the star footballers who left their mark at Middlesbrough.