Preview: Middlesbrough vs Southampton - prediction, team news, lineups

Middlesbrough and Southampton will both be desperate to return to winning ways when they lock horns in Sunday’s Championship fixture at the Riverside Stadium.

Boro have gone four matches without a victory, while the Saints have failed to take maximum points from any of their last five games.

Match preview

Kim Hellberg made an impressive start to life as Middlesbrough boss, overseeing four consecutive wins following his appointment in November.

However, the momentum built by his fast start has been lost with a return of just one point from the last four matches.

Concerningly for Hellberg, his team have failed to score in each of those four games, losing 2-0 to Bristol City and drawing 0-0 with Blackburn Rovers, before suffering 1-0 defeats against Hull City and Derby County.

As a result of their dip in form, Boro have dropped out of the top two and are now a point adrift of second-placed Ipswich in their quest to end their nine-year wait for top-flight football.

Middlesbrough will hope to get their promotion bid back on track in their first home meeting with Southampton since winning 2-1 in September 2023 - the third time they have won in their past five games against the Saints at the Riverside (L2).

The opening goal could be crucial to Middlesbrough's chances of victory, considering they have won all 11 league games in which they have scored first this season.

Like Hellberg, Southampton boss Tonda Eckert has experienced a drop-off in results after initially making a positive start to his tenure after taking over the reins from Will Still in November.

Eckert, who was converted from interim to permanent manager in December, won six of his opening seven games before seeing his team go five consecutive matches without a win (D3, L2).

The Saints have at least avoided defeat in their last two outings, drawing 1-1 away to Birmingham City before playing out a goalless draw at home to Millwall on New Year's Day.

Having collected 33 points from 25 league games, Southampton are currently in 14th spot and seven points adrift of the top six, leaving them with work to do to secure an immediate return to the Premier League.

After failing to win their last three games against Boro (D2, L1), the Saints will travel to Teeside with the clear objective of claiming their first head-to-head victory since May 2017.

However, their hopes of picking up three points at the Riverside could be tempered by the fact that they have failed to win any of their last four away games since they thrashed Charlton Athletic 5-1 in November.

Middlesbrough Championship form:

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Southampton Championship form:

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Team News

Middlesbrough’s defensive injury crisis worsened when Callum Brittain sustained an ankle injury in Thursday’s defeat to Derby.

In addition to Brittain, Boro are expected to be without the defensive quartet of Darragh Lenihan, Alfie Jones, George Edmundson and Dael Fry.

Midfielder Riley McGree is also set to miss out after being absent from the last three matches with an injury issue.

As for Southampton, midfielder Shea Charles, who has been out since October, is expected to remain sidelined until mid-January.

The Saints will also be without Mads Roerslev and Ross Stewart due to knee and hamstring injuries respectively.

Tom Fellows, Finn Azaz, Caspar Jander and Adam Armstrong could all earn recalls after dropping down to the bench on New Year’s Day.

Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:

Brynn; Silvera, Ayling, Targett, Bangura; Gilbert, Morris; Whittaker, Hackney; Conway, Burgzorg

Southampton possible starting lineup:

Bazunu; Wood, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens; Fellows, Downes, Jander, Manning; Azaz, Scienza; Armstrong

We say: Middlesbrough 2-2 Southampton

The last two meetings between the two sides have finished all square, including September's reverse fixture at St Mary's.

Southampton have also seen three of their last four games end in a draw, and with that in mind, we think the points could be shared in Sunday's clash at the Riverside.

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