Leeds United have to wait until Monday night to play this weekend, as they look to remain in the Championship automatic promotion battle. They come here in 3rd, after a Leicester win at the weekend, while Ipswich have not played. Middlesbrough are the hosts for this one, a team who were involved in the playoff battle, but have dropped off over the past two or three weeks.
Middlesbrough Form GuideThey may be out of the playoffs, but Middlesbrough have maintained a pretty good standard of football over the past few weeks. They come here on a run of nine games unbeaten over the past few weeks, with five wins and four draws, so they have pushed for the playoffs, but form earlier in the season has left them with too much to do.
It was a draw last weekend, but was a good away point against Ipswich, currently 2nd and battling for promotion. Before that, another draw against Hull and they recorded a 2-0 win over Swansea and 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday to start the month off.
Leeds Form GuideThe top three have all suffered from the nerves of being in contention for promotion to the Premier League, and Leeds will no doubt feel that again here. Just one win from their last five, it's been a struggle. To make it worse, they have lost two of their last three games, and that includes their game last weekend.
That was a very disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Blackburn, a team in the relegation battle. Before that, they drew 0-0 at home to Sunderland, another disappointment, and they lost 2-1 at Coventry before that. This is a talented team, but also one struggling to play with nerves right now.
Match PredictionLeeds are the class act here, but I can't back them while they are struggling to cope under pressure. Middlesbrough have been on a good run, and I am happy to back them on the double chance market here, which covers them to win the game, or it to end in a draw.
