Football Bet of the Day: Tense affair expected at the Riverside

| 21st April |

2 mins read

Time is running out for Middlesbrough and Leeds United as they try to boost their hopes of achieving promotion to the Premier League and Monday's Championship tie (KO, 20:00), which serves as our Football Bet of the Day, promises to be a nerve-wracking affair at the Riverside Stadium.

Michael Carrick's side are still looking to secure a play-off spot this season, but they need other results to go their way. Boro are nine points behind sixth-placed Norwich City, but they have a game in hand over their rivals. Meanwhile, Leeds are still sitting handsomely in third, but they are now two points behind second-placed Ipswich Town, and their dip in form has come at the worst possible time.

Football Bet of the Day - Monday, April 22

Under 2.5 goals @ 1/1

The previous meeting between the two clubs was a thriller back in December, as Leeds ran out 3-2 winners at a packed Elland Road.

All five goals came in the first 45 minutes in a chaotic game, but Monday's tie should not follow the same pattern.

We are reaching that stage of the season where nerves and pressure start to take hold of players, and that can certainly be said of Leeds, who are winless in three.

Before the international break in March, Leeds were the team to beat in the second tier, but they have since struggled and will now need Ipswich to fluff their lines if they are to secure automatic promotion.

Leeds have only won one game since returning from the break, and while they have only failed to score in two of those matches, they are starting to struggle in the final third.

Daniel Farke's side have not netted in their previous two games, but not only that, they have also stopped creating the clear-cut chances that got them into the promotion mix.

Ideally, at this stage of the season, Leeds would face a team with nothing to play for, but Boro are still hoping to squeeze into the play-off picture.

Carrick's men are unbeaten in nine games in the Championship, winning five of those encounters, while they have also secured draws against the likes of Southampton, Hull City and Ipswich in recent weeks, proving they can mix it with the other teams in and around the top six.

Boro have also kept things tight recently, with both teams failing to score in four of their last five home games, while BTTS has not landed in six of Leeds' previous nine on the road.

Middlesbrough have kept three successive clean sheets on home soil, and while it is tough to pick a winner between these two teams, the recent signs suggest that goals will be hard to come by.