The opening weekend of this new Championship season features a number of interesting and intriguing fixtures with one one them being this upcoming clash between Middlesbrough and West Brom on Saturday evening at the Riverside Stadium.
Towards the end of last season it seemed that Middlesbrough might make a late surge for a possible place in the play-offs following back to back away wins at Birmingham City 2-0 and Peterborough United 4-0.
Sit back and enjoy 👇 #UTB https://t.co/5jNM9V9sFY— Middlesbrough FC (@Boro) July 23, 2022
Sit back and enjoy 👇 #UTB https://t.co/5jNM9V9sFY
But then Chris Wilder’s side suffered what would be a decisive slump in form after picking up just two wins from their subsequent eight games of the campaign.
Three defeats in their subsequent five matches in the form of losses to Fulham, Hull City and Huddersfield Town along with being held to draws by Bournemouth and Swansea City, resulted in Middlesbrough losing valuable ground on the top six pack of the division.
But although Boro rallied with back to back wins against Cardiff City and Stoke City, it was a case of too little too late as Middlesbrough found themselves five points adrift of the play-off pack after losing 4-1 away at Preston NE.
West Brom were another side to flatter and deceive as The Baggies eventually finished up in a disappointing mid-table position of 10th place in the Championship table and some eight points adrift of 6th placed Luton Town.
Manager, Steve Bruce, was drafted in as a replacement to previous manager, Valerien Ismael, in order to revive West Brom’s flagging play-off hopes,
But his appointment didn’t get off to the best of starts as the west midlands club lost four out of his opening five games in charge which ultimately proved to be decisive in The Baggies missing out on a play-off spot.
However, West Brom staged something of a revival under Bruce after their shaky start under his watch as they lost just three of their subsequent 12 league games and picked up six vital wins in the shape of victories over Hull City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Blackpool, Reading and Barnsley.
Bruce will therefore be hoping his side can pick up where they left off at the end of last season’s Championship campaign which saw them finish the season with back to back wins.
However, a low-scoring affair could unfold at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday evening as seven of the previous nine meetings have resulted in under 2.5 goals.