Middlesbrough vs Leicester City Betting Pick | Eng. Championship

Eng. Championship

2012-09-29 - Middlesbrough vs Leicester City

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Middlesbrough v Leicester City
Football: English Championship
Saturday 29 September 2012 - Kick Off 3pm

Middlesbrough

I'll admit that I did under-estimate Middlesbrough and their chances last Friday night as they travelled to Blackburn Rovers. It was clear pretty early on that they are a very good side that may just reach the Play Offs this season after barely missing out a few months ago.

The win at Ewood Park moved Middlesbrough up to 9th in the Championship and they are just 4 points behind Brighton at the top of the Division. The side have been very good at the Riverside Stadium in the early going as they have won all 3 home games, scoring 7 goals and only conceding 3.

My main reason for opposing Middlesbrough at Blackburn was because of their two hammerings they had taken at Millwall and Blackpool going into the game. Boro have now won 6 of their last 8 games in all competitions and have now won 4 in a row at home going back to last season. Goals had been a problem for them for much of last season, but Middlesbrough have scored at least 2 in each of their last 4 here.

Leicester City

Nigel Pearson didn't have the same level of expectation coming into this season as Sven-Goran Eriksson did last season, but performances may just be changing that. They haven't played that badly in any League game and they know this could be a big season if they can just turn around their fortunes away from home.

Leicester moved up to 8th in the table thanks to a comfortable home win over Hull City last weekend and they too are on 12 points meaning they are in touch with the leaders. As I alluded to above, it is their away form that is a concern as they have lost all 3 games, scoring 3 goals and conceding 6, although the fans will tell you they have been unlucky in all of those defeats.

The home form is keeping Leicester moving up the table and they come into this fixture with 3 wins from their last 4 League games, all of those coming at the King Power Stadium. All 3 of their away games in the League have ended in losses, meaning the Foxes have lost 4 of their last 5 away games in the Championship going back to last season.

Head to Head

Middlesbrough and Leicester City drew both League games against one another last season meaning the last 4 games have all ended with the points shared.

The game here ended 0-0 last season meaning Middlesbrough have won just 1 of their last 9 at home against Leicester.

Prediction

This is an intriguing game between two sides that have real ambitions of getting back to the Premier League and I also believe it could be an entertaining one for the fans in attendance.

Both of these sides have been playing well when they are going forward, yet both can also be exposed at the back and that makes the over 2.5 goals an appealing option from this game.

6 of the last 8 games Middlesbrough have played has seen at least 3 goals being shared, while Leicester City have now been involved in 6 straight away games in the Championship that have ended with a 2-1 scoreline. That also means 9 of the last 10 away games Leicester have played have ended with at least 3 goals scored.

Recent history between the teams shows they are either involved in really high-scoring games or tight affairs- the form of both teams suggests we will see the former in this one.