Both sides are enjoying a renaissance this season. Blackburn have steadily rebuilt under Tony Mowbray and a very shrewd recruitment policy is starting to pay dividends, whilst Chris Wilder has revived Middlesbrough’s play-offs hopes since he arrived 2 months ago. These sides are both heavily involved in the playoff picture, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee us a free-flowing game. Only 1 of their last 10 meetings has contained 3 goals or more and so far this season neither side have been involved in big scoring matches, with just 54% of Blackburn’s games reaching over 2.5 and only 31% of Middlesbrough’s. Both teams have built their success on a tight defence and neither concedes above a goal a game, so the low scoring draw seems the obvious outcome.
