Middlesbrough play host to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day with both clubs bidding to move into the Championship playoff positions.
While the teams sit in ninth and seventh place respectively, they have each recorded three wins from four matches ahead of the fixture at the Riverside Stadium.
Match preview
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When Forest managed to attract Steve Cooper to the City Ground, the club's hierarchy and fans knew that they had pulled off a coup given his previous efforts at Swansea City.
However, few would have anticipated such a turnaround in form, Forest moving from relegation candidates to promotion contenders within the space of 15 games.
Over that period, Forest have accumulated the most points of any team in the division, their only defeat coming to leaders Fulham and their eighth win being earned against Hull City last weekend.
The East Midlands outfit had to come from behind to claim a 2-1 victory over the Tigers, their equaliser being fortunate, having been awarded a debatable penalty decision.
Nevertheless, Forest rallied to claim a winner and then saw off a strong finish from their opponents, only increasing the belief within this group that they can end the club's long wait for a return to the Premier League.
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With the team languishing in the mid-table positions, Middlesbrough made a bold decision to replace Neil Warnock ahead of the November international break.
However, Chris Wilder has collected 11 points from a possible 18 since his arrival at the Riverside Stadium, moving the club to within touching distance of the top six.
Although Wilder will not be getting carried away, Boro have kept three successive clean sheets, the latest shutout helping them to a 1-0 win over Bournemouth last weekend.
Goals remain an issue for this side with no strikes coming from open play for 244 minutes, but there is a growing confidence behind the scenes that they can gatecrash the playoffs over the coming weeks.
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Team News
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Wilder has revealed that versatile Middlesbrough player Marc Bola faces at least six weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury.
With Neil Taylor impressing on his first start for the club, Boro could line up with the same team which started against Bournemouth.
Despite Forest's victory over Hull, Cooper will likely make changes to his squad courtesy of injuries to Jordi Osei-Tutu and Alex Mighten.
Gaeten Bong and Jack Colback are both options at left wing-back, with a switch for the latter potentially resulting in a recall for Cafu.
Mighten was injured after initially coming on as a substitute, meaning that the remainder of the first XI could stay the same.
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Lumley; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair; Jones, Crooks, Howson, Tavernier, Taylor; Watmore, Sporar
Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:
Samba; Worrall, Yates, McKenna; Spence, Garner, Cafu, Colback; Johnson, Grabban, Zinckernagel
We say: Middlesbrough 1-2 Nottingham Forest
With the opportunity to move into the playoff spots, there is pressure on both sides ahead of this contest. That is something which could prove beneficial to the visitors, and we feel that Forest should edge a competitive game in the North-East.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Middlesbrough win with a probability of 41.53%. A win for Nottingham Forest had a probability of 29.67% and a draw had a probability of 28.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Middlesbrough win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.43%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (8.21%) and 2-1 (8.1%). The likeliest Nottingham Forest win was 0-1 (10.83%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.24%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 8.2% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Middlesbrough would win this match.
