Things will go from
bad to worse if we fail to beat Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon. Three
points separate us from them and this is without the most important game of the
season so far. We can make up ground on both Boro and Palace even if we can’t
escape the relegation zone just yet. Defeat is not an option.
13 minutes was all it took for all our good work in the
first half to be utterly ruined on Wednesday night – I can’t imagine what
Bradders might’ve said to the boys at half time but it can’t have been all that
much; they looked totally lost and confused.
We could’ve picked up so much momentum from last weekend; we
were imperious! And yet we’re still scrabbling around for points like blind
beggars.
It’s safe to say that Middlesbrough are not a better side
than us so all that’s in their favour is home field advantage. If you’re
travelling to the game, make sure you get there early because parking near to
the Riverside is in short supply and really quite expensive for the afternoon!
We have the better of the head to head having won three to
their two (two draws) and the last time we played each other we nicked the game
1-0 in the League Cup, 13th December 2012. On paper they look a
decent side but an experienced ‘keeper and a big name striker aren’t enough to
do well in the Premier League as Karanka is finding out.
Assuming the spine of our team remains solid (Gylfi, Britts
and Rangel), we should be able to control the game for the most part. Boro can’t
outpace our widemen and there’s no chance their getting past the depth of our
midfield – it’s tough to see where goals might come from for them to be honest.
SkyBet don’t fancy
us all that much here: Boro 1/1, Draw
12/5, Swans 14/5. Harsh odds but it makes it all the easier to break with
convention and back our own team – it’s okay to do it every now and then!
Swans to win and
under 2.5 goals in the game is 6/1 and I think that’ll be my bet for the
day – it’s got 1-0 written all over it.
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