Middlesbrough travel to Ewood Park on Friday evening to take on Blackburn Rovers as they continue their hunt for a playoff position in the Championship table.
The visitors can move into the playoff zone with a point on Friday, but they will be hoping to secure all three, to pile the pressure on sixth-placed West Bromwich Albion who square off with Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.
Match preview
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Having lost five league games in a row between January 25 and February 21, Boro have responded well to the adversity, losing just once in their past six games.
After missing out on the playoffs by just four points last season, Michael Carrick's side will be determined to avoid a similar fate this time around, and they are hitting some form in the closing stages of the campaign.
One of the reasons that Boro are challenging for promotion again is that they have been very impressive in front of goal this season, with their record of 59 goals only bettered by Leeds United and Norwich City.
Victory last weekend against Oxford United helped move Boro level in the table with West Brom, following their late defeat away to Norwich City.
Goals from Kelechi Iheanacho and Neto Borges helped Carrick's side overcome a 1-0 deficit to secure the three points, after Michal Helik had put Oxford ahead.
Victory over Oxford was Boro's third home win in succession, but it has been a different story for Carrick's side on their travels.
The visitors have won just two of their eight away league contests in 2025, with five of the other six matches ending in defeat for Middlebsrough.
With the majority of their remaining games in the Championship away from home, Boro will need to improve on their recent struggles on the road if they are to maintain their bid for promotion to the Premier League.
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They travel to a Blackburn side that are only five points off the playoff zone themselves, and they will be desperate to move to within two points of Middlesbrough in the standings with a win.
However, their season and promotion hopes are in serious danger of dwindling away, as they have failed to win any of their last six games, including all five of their matches under head coach Valerien Ismael.
Blackburn were in the playoff zone when Ismael was appointed as John Eustace's successor at Ewood Park, but their poor run of form has seen them slip to 11th in the standings with only seven games remaining.
Under Ismael, Rovers have suffered defeats to Derby County, Stoke City, Cardiff City, and most recently, Portsmouth.
These results have helped all the respective teams in their bid to survive in the Championship this season, but they could well prove costly to Blackburn's hopes of promotion.
Ismael admitted that his concentration has been on getting his first win in charge of his new club, but unsurprisingly, their collapse has already led to some fans voicing their displeasure at the performances under their new boss.
Rovers are unbeaten in their past four meetings with Middlesbrough, and the visitors have not tasted success against Friday's hosts since December 2022, when they won 2-1 at Ewood Park.
The two sides have already met twice this season, having played the reverse league fixture at the Riverside Stadium back in November, before the two clubs were paired together for an FA Cup tie at the same venue in January.
Blackburn tasted success in both of those games, with Dominic Hyam scoring the only goal in the league meeting, before Andreas Weimann bagged the winner in the cup meeting, as Rovers won both matches 1-0.
A repeat of those scorelines on Friday evening would give the hosts some hope of promotion ahead of the remaining six matches of the campaign.
On the other hand, a defeat would all but seal their fate in terms of promotion this season, and it would only raise further questions regarding Ismael's capabilities and long-term future at the club, despite his recent arrival.
Team News
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Weimann, who netted the winner for Rovers when the two sides met in the third round of the FA Cup back in January, is out for the rest of the campaign due to a knee injury.
The hosts will also be without Augustus Kargbo and Emmanuel Dennis, who are both ruled out due to hamstring issues.
Elsewhere, Callum Brittain (calf), Harry Leonard, Zak Gilsenan and Scott Wharton also remain long-term absentees for Blackburn, while Harry Pickering is a further doubt for this fixture.
In a further blow for the hosts, Owen Beck picked up a fresh hamstring issue in the defeat at Portsmouth last weekend, and Hayden Carter also suffered a calf injury in Hampshire, so he faces a late fitness test ahead of this game.
Meanwhile, the visitors have several absentees, with goalkeepers Sol Brynn and Seny Dieng both sidelined.
In more bad news for Middlesbrough, Dael Fry (calf) and George Edmundson (ankle) are further doubts for the visitors, while Luke Ayling, Darragh Lenihan, Alex Bangura and Ben Doak are all sidelined for this clash.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Ribeiro, Batth, Hyam, Carter; Travis, Tronstad, Cantwell, Dolan, Hedges; Gueye
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Travers; Giles, Borges, Howson, Dijksteel; Hackney, Morris, Azaz; Iling-Junior, Burgzorg, Iheanacho
We say: Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Middlesbrough
Blackburn have beaten Middlesbrough twice this season, with two 1-0 victories in both the league and the FA Cup.
However, we think that Boro will get their revenge for those defeats with a narrow victory at Ewood Park on Friday evening, as Rovers are in poor form of late, while the visitors appear to be back in form following a bad run of their own earlier in the campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Tom Humphrey
