Our prediction for this Championship match:
Stoke City
Match Time & Date:
11/12/2021
16:00
Prediction: 1-1
Middlesbrough
Stoke and Middlesbrough square off against each other at Bet365 Stadium on day 22 of the new Championship campaign. The Potters aim to build on a 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers, and a triumph over Middlesbrough will see them stay in the playoffs berth. Keep in mind, though, that all Romaine Sawyers, Josef Bursik, Jordan Thompson, Harry Souttar, and Nick Powell are out of contention with injuries for the home team.
The Boro, on the other hand, have been showing signs of improvement of late, with the team beating both Huddersfield and Swansea in the previous two league fixtures. Defeating Stoke on the road, though, is easier said than done; therefore, we are tempted to put our money on draw. Midfielder Marcus Browne should be the only absentee in the away side. Under 2.5 goals have been netted in seven of the previous nine meetings between the two sides.
Highlighted Player (Steven Fletcher):
Steven Fletcher is a professional footballer who plays for Sheffield Wednesday. After ending his loan spell with Marseille, he joined the Owls on a free transfer in July 2016. Steven Fletcher was born in Shrewsbury, England on 26 March, 1987 and he began his youth career at Hibernian.
He made his debut for the Scottish outfit on 10 April, 2004 in a 3-0 win over Kilmarnock. After spending three years at Burnley and Wolverhampton Fletcher signed a four-year deal with Sunderland for a fee of £12 million. The left-footed attacker scored 11 goals in 28 appearances for the Black Cats in the 2012/2013 Premier League campaign and he was struggling in front of goal in the 2013/2014 season, scoring no more than three league goals.
Steven Fletcher was eligible to play for both England and Scotland, but he decided to represent his mother’s home country. Fletcher made his Scotland debut in March 2008, in a friendly against Croatia. He did well to provide an assist for Kenny Miller, who scored the equaliser for the Scotts (1-1).
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.
