Middlesbrough vs Chelsea prediction and betting tips on January 9, 2024
Game Prediction
Having played in the cup round after a frantic period in the main inner draw, most English clubs will finally take a short break. Still, it’s not about all of them: the quartet of the best will proceed to the semi-final round of the EFL Cup. On Tuesday, Middlesbrough and Chelsea will compete with each other. Will the guests really decide everything in the away game? The analytical department of the website has prepared a prediction for the match on January 9, 2024.
Middlesbrough drops back into the middle peasants of the Championship
“The Riversiders” periodically remind of themselves and even, being under the leadership of McClaren, reached the UEFA Cup 2006 final. However, they have been extremely rare to return to the Premier League. It seemed that Carrick would return there: having led the team after an unsuccessful start in 2022/2023, he finished in the top 6, although he lost the play-offs. Everyone believed in further progress, but now the club is unstable. And the team, after the home defeat made by Coventry, with 36 points after 26 matches, is already in 12th position, albeit only 4 points behind the final top 6, which are closed by Sunderland. As for the Cup, there was a home match with Aston Villa – it resulted in the defeat with a 0-1 score. The opponents were clearly easier in the League Cup, although there were already 6 of them, so it’s still rightfully in the semi-finals.
Chelsea failed to improve its performance significantly in the current Premier League
“The Pensioners” were the main disappointment of the previous season. And now they “threaten” to surprise with their stability – they are again “hanging” out in the middle of the table. Even under the leadership of Pochettino and with the newcomers led by Caicedo, who cost 100+ million, the team cannot even return to the European tournament zone: only 28 points after 20 rounds. Well, at least Preston was defeated with a 4-0 score in the cup. As a result, the team needs to fight for the title in the League Cup. There, among others, Brighton and Newcastle were knocked out. The latter, however, had been winning until the 90th+ minute of the game, but Mudryk, by means of his goal, turned the dispute into a penalty shoot-out, where the reserve goalkeeper, Petković, proved himself.
Previous head-to-head matches
The opponents played in the cup in 2022 and “the Blues” won with the away 2-0 score there. The higher mentioned result was their ninth head-to-head victory in a row.
Free prediction for the match Middlesbrough vs Chelsea on January 9:
The guests are at least stronger and must prove this fact in the following battle. We bet on “the Blues” with “a -1.0 goal handicap” (odd: 1.96).