Middlesbrough vs Norwich Prediction: Goals expected as Carrick faces Wilshere

Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough vs Jack Wilshere’s Norwich? Insert Eddie Hearn ‘Oh go on then’ GIF here. This isn’t a Football Manager save that you’ve played on for too long, but the actual reality of Championship football in 2025. 

Middlesbrough currently sit three points behind Coventry in the hunt for the play-offs, but they face the Sky Blues on the final day - so all is to play for if they win this one. Below you can find my Middlesbrough vs Norwich predictions featuring team news and match odds. 

Football Odds

Team News

Middlesbrough fell to a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on Monday and Tommy Conway didn’t cover himself in glory. The striker missed a penalty and then squandered a crucial opportunity in the dying embers of the game as his side fell to a narrow loss.

However, Carrick is likely to keep the faith with his top scorer, and support him with Finn Azaz, who found the net at Hillsborough. Delano Burgzorg could come back into the XI in place of Marcus Forss, while Morgan Whittaker has still not hit the heights expected of him since he joined from Plymouth Argyle in January. 

Jonny Howson retained his place at centre-back but surely Dael Fry will be champing at the bit for a start in the back four, alongside Rav van den Berg. Ben Doak and Luke Ayling remain amongst a long list of absentees for Boro. 

As always it will be interesting to see what changes the new manager in charge makes at Norwich. The exit of Johannes Hoff Thorup came as a surprise but their form has been dreadful, so Wilshere may shake things up in this tough away game.

Angus Gunn should return in goal after he missed the defeat to Millwall due to his wife giving birth, while Callum Doyle will also surely return to the back line. Liam Gibbs may come into the midfield in place of Jacob Wright, but Wilshere will want to see a better display from the off against Boro. Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz will provide the attacking threat as always. 

Middlesbrough vs Norwich Odds

Middlesbrough have been priced up at 1/2 to win this game giving them an implied win probability of 66%. Meanwhile, Norwich are the rank outsiders at 5/1 and a draw is available at 7/2. Over 2.5 goals is just 8/15 and BTTS is 4/6, which could provide value given the attacking talent on show. 

In terms of a first goalscorer, Conway leads the market at 4/1 having hit 13 so far this season. 

Middlesbrough to win and over 3.5 goals @ 11/5

Now I’m not sure what we are going to get from Norwich under Wilshere, but we have to predict there to be a glut of goals in this game. These are two of the best attacking teams in the division, with Middlesbrough scoring the third-highest number of goals this season (64), and Norwich the second (67). Only Leeds United have outscored these two teams which shows you just how lethal they are going forward. 

Given Leeds could hit 100 points while Boro are in 7th and Norwich are in 14th, something has gone badly wrong from a defensive standpoint for both of these two. Boro have conceded 54, while amazingly Norwich have now conceded 64 goals, meaning we should see plenty more at the Riverside on Saturday. 

There have been over 2.5 goals in six of the last eight Norwich matches, and over 3.5 in their last two outings. Meanwhile, Boro have seen over 3.5 goals in 12 Championship matches this season, so let’s back them to come out on top of what should be a thrilling encounter. 

Bet Builder - Josh Sargent and Tommy Conway to score @ 5/1 

Two of the finest Championship strikers meet this weekend and I’d like to back both of them to find the net with this straightforward Bet Builder. Sargent needs no introduction and has now scored 15 goals in 30 appearances for Norwich this term. He recently said: "The fans are rightly very upset, it's just nowhere near good enough from us. It just comes down to doing basic things right, everybody working hard, showing passion - that's the bare minimum we need to do."

I expect to see an improved performance from Norwich and Sargent can find the net, with the price of 8/1 for him to score first extremely generous in my eyes. Meanwhile, Conway may have had a rough ride on Monday but he’s still a superb finisher with 13 goals to his name, and he can take advantage of a shaky Norwich backline.

Offers

Place an In-Play single bet of £10 or more at odds of 1/2+ on any Premier League, FA Cup or Championship game on Friday or Saturday and get £5 in Free Bets to use In-Play on Sunday’s Premier League or FA Cup games. (Credited upon Bet Settlement).

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down