Middlesbrough v Fulham Preview

Middlesbrough’s 8 match winning streak came to an abrupt end a fortnight ago when lost to Reading at the Madejeski Stadium. Aitor Karanka’s side remained 2^nd in the league before last week’s international and will return to Championship action at home to Fulham this weekend.  The visitors will begin the match in 12^th place after an erratic start to the season. At the end of September they thrashed QPR 4-0 but lost 3-0 to Wolves the following week; they then blew a 2 goal lead to draw 2-2 with Charlton in their last game.

Team News

Boro will be without centre back Fernando Amorebieta, who is ineligible to play against the club he is on loan from. The same applies to left back James Husband who is on loan at Fulham from Teesiders. Full back Ryan Fredericks, who was on loan at Boro last season, could start for the visitors after signing permanently in the summer.

Karanka rested David Nugent for the trip to Reading a fortnight ago after the striker had a reported knock. The Boro manager will have to decide whether to start Albert Adomah and Christain Stuani who represented Ghana and Uraguay respectively during the international break. Fulham manger Kit Symons will face a similar dilemma with centre back Tim Ream who played for the USA.

Facts And Stats

  

Fulham have never won at the Riverside in their nine visits to the stadium, losing six and drawing three

Both sides have scored 17 goals this season, only QPR on 18 have netted more.

Key Players

Boro's Key

David Nugent

Boro's David Nugent

The ex-Leicester striker has added some required energy and goals to Boro’s front line this season. His experience in the Championship has been a vital asset in Boro’s strong start to the campaign, which has seen them score 17 goals in 10 games. Since his arrival in the summer Nugent has asserted himself as Karanka’s first choice centre forward ahead of the likes of Kike and Stuani. That is mainly down his relentless work rate and constant will to chase down lost causes. At the Riverside teams have tended to sit deep and defend in numbers so Nugent may have to be patient and take his chance when it comes.   

One To Watch

Ross McCormack

Fulham's Ross McCormack 

In the summer of 2013 McCormack was heavily linked with move to Boro but elected to stay at Leeds before moving to Fulham a year later. He came back to haunt the Teesiders in last year’s league fixture at Craven Cottage when his hat-trick, in a 4-3 Fulham victory, all but ended Boro’s hopes of automatic promotion.Despite criticism for his hefty £12 million price tag, the Scott has still been a reliable source of goals. He scored 17 in the league last season and has already netted 4 times in 8 games at the start this campaign.

Form

        

Middlesbrough

Reading 2-0 L

Leeds 3-0 W

Wolves 3-0 W (Capital One Cup)

Nottingham Forest 1-2 W

Brentford 3-1 W

Fulham

Charlton 2-2 D

Wolves 0-3 L

QPR 4-0 W

Stoke 0-1 L (Capital One Cup)

Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 L

Prediction

Middlesbrough 3 Fulham 1

Boro are usually strong at home and have had a good week to get the Reading defeat out of their system. Fulham have showed that they can be a threat this season, especially going forward, however they have been inconsistent and leaked goals so I’m predicting a home win.