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The Tees–Wear derby will be kicking off the Championship action this weekend. Sunderland will come Middlesbrough to the Stadium of Light having had a string of recent wins.
Sunderland vs Middlesbrough English Championship Team News
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Sunderland and Middlesbrough renew their rivalry once again. This derby has been dominated by the home team in recent years and Boro would be keen on changing the trend. Interestingly, Middlesbrough were the last team to get an away success in the Tees–Wear derby.
Sunderland
Sunderland have picked up four wins in the last five Championship matches to put themselves as a favourite for finishing in the top six positions. Even with this good form, Sunderland are eight points behind table leaders Leicester.
Manager Tony Mowbray still has a lot of injury problems in the squad. There are seven players confirmed to miss the game due to various injuries with Alex Pritchard being the latest addition to the treatment table. Corry Evans, Jay Matete, Ajibola Alese, Pierre Ekwah, Bradley Dack, and Dennis Cirkin are the other players who will be ruled out of the game.
Sunderland predicted lineup
Anthony Patterson, Niall Huggins, Luke O’Nien, Daniel Ballard, Trai Hume, Patrick Roberts, Abdoullah Ba, Dan Neil, Jack Clarke, Jobe Bellingham, Mason Burstow
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick has overseen four successive wins for his team in all competitions. Despite having started poorly, Middlesbrough have picked up three successive wins in the league. Boro may have been winless in the first seven matches, but they have been very impressive of late.
Boro could be making a couple of changes from the recent win over Cardiff, as Carrick does not have too many injury problems in the squad. Lewis O’Brien is the only player to miss out on this match because of injury issues.
Middlesbrough predicted lineup
Seny Dieng, Tom Smith, Darragh Lenihan, Dael Fry, Lukas Engel, Hayden Hackney, Jonathan Howson, Isaiah Jones, Riley McGree, Matt Crooks, Emmanuel Latte Lath
Sunderland vs Middlesbrough Predicted Lineup – Featured Duel: Jack Clarke vs Tommy Smith
Jack Clarke has been one of the best players in the Championship by a sizeable margin. He is the joint top scorer alongside Adam Armstrong with seven goals so far this season.
The midfielder has been a big contributing factor behind Sunderland’s push for promotion. He has been averaging a whopping two key passes per game and 2.4 shots per match. The 22-year-old can also be a very tricky customer with three dribbles per match.
Tommy Smith will have the difficult and tricky job of keeping Jack Clarke quiet. The Middlesbrough defender picked up a string of bookings early in the season, but he comes on the back of an impressive performance in the win over Cardiff. The 21-year-old has rarely given the ball away with a passing success rate of more than 90%. He has also made two tackles per game on average.
Will Jack Clarke Play Against Middlesbrough?
Jack Clarke will look to become the standalone top scorer in the Championship – even if it is not it is – after managing seven goals so far this season. The midfielder has come up with six goals in as many matches. The 22-year-old is yet to score his first goal against Middlesbrough, but his overall performance will be closely watched.
Sunderland vs Middlesbrough Predicted Lineup – The Final Word
The Tees–Wear derby gets ready to kick off the Championship action this weekend. Middlesbrough are aiming to get the first win at the Stadium of Light since 2016. Michael Carrick and his men arrive into this match on the back of four consecutive wins. However, this fixture has been dominated by the home team. Sunderland picked up a 2-0 win in the last meeting back in January.
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