da bwin： Middlesbrough are surely the favourites for automatic promotion as it stands. Burnley and Hull will both be under pressure if Boro can secure three points from their game in hand and a return to the place they feel they belong is within touching distance.
da mrbet： Only Hull have conceded less goals than Boro so far this season, with Karanka’s side conceding just over 0.5 goals per game. A staunch defence is the first building block of a side that can succeed in the Premiership and Karanka looks to have built a team that could stay up, assuming they make the grade for promotion this season.
Three wins in their last eight league games is slightly concerning form for the north-east club and this must be rectified as quickly as possibly if they want to keep their top two spot. Brighton, despite having played a game more, are breathing down their necks and could be about to make a sneaky attempt to take one of the automatic promotion places.
So, for promotion, Boro must avoid defeat, at the very least in these FIVE games…
Good Friday?
Second face fourth on 18th March and it will be a game that you don’t want to miss.
Defeat for either side could leave them out of the promotion battle whilst a victory for Boro will surely put them in the box seat before April.
Hull have only won one in their last five league fixtures, whilst Boro should take far better form into this one.
Welcoming the Royals
Reading are sitting in the tedium of mid-table at the moment and their visit to the Riverside will be a fixture they are dreading.
Boro know that they must aim to win all of their remaining home games if they are to guarantee to a place in the top two by the end of the season and they can’t afford to drop points in matches like these.
Midweek clash
Burnley are currently in the box seat for the promotion battle and their clash with Middlesbrough is sure to be one of the deciding matches in the rest of the campaign.
Their Tuesday evening match at Turf Moor comes in the middle of April and Burnley’s ground is sure to have a fierce atmosphere for such a pivotal match.
As much as a win would be huge for Boro, this fixture comes into the ‘must not lose’ category.
Brummie encounter
Birmingham currently sit just two points outside of the play-off positions, but the table could be quite different by the time these two meet in the midlands on April 30th.
This game could be a chance for Boro to secure promotion, whilst Birmingham are likely to still be mounting a play-off challenge, it will be influential in the top half of the table and Birmingham will gain a lot of supporters from Burnley, Hull and Brighton.
Final day showdown
Two points currently splits Brighton and Middlesbrough and they meet on the final day of the season. One side may well have guaranteed their Premier League position by the time we reach May, but this game is going to be significant in one way or another, you’d imagine.
Brighton have lost five league games this season, a joint league lowest, and Boro fans won’t want to need to win on the final day of the season to secure promotion.