Millwall vs Middlesbrough Prediction: Play-off chasers clash at the Den

Millwalll vs Middlesbrough (15:00, Saturday), has suddenly become quite a crucial encounter in the race for the play-offs. A month or so, these two looked to not quite have enough to break into the top six, but now Boro are on the brink, and Millwall have won three out of four to give themselves an outside chance. 

It makes this clash at the Den a vital one, and below you can find my Millwall vs Middlesbrough predictions. 

Football Odds

Team News

After securing an epic away win at Sheffield United, Millwall would want to keep their starting XI. However, they will have to make one change to their 4-4-2, as Josh Coburn is ineligible to play against his parent club, so Mihailo Ivanovic will hope to find success alongside Macaulay Langstaff. 

Billy Mitchell and Casper de Noore will provide the legs in midfield while in the absence of Japhet Tanganga and Shaun Hutchinson,Tristian Crama will continue to deputise at the heart of defence. He’s done a sterling job alongside Jake Cooper, flanked by Joe Bryan and Ryan Leonard in the back four. Lukas Jensen will target another clean sheet in goal as Millwall attempt to pile pressure on the top six.

Meanwhile, Boro lost 1-0 at home to Leeds on Tuesday but it could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for a ‘generous’ linesman. Michael Carrick has a few big decisions to make, as Morgan Whittaker is certainly under consideration for another start on the right. He was forced to be a substitute against Leeds but came off the bench, while Kelechi Iheanacho continues to flatter to deceive for Boro and could lose his starting spot.

Tommy Conway looks to be their most dangerous attacking option, while Finn Azaz has been a crucial cog in the number 10 role. At the back, Jonny Howson has been filling in at centre-back and done a decent job, although with Dael Fry back fit, he may drop out of the team. Hayden Hackney and Aidan Morris should continue their partnership in the middle of the park. 

Millwall vs Middlesbrough Odds 

Millwall are priced at 21/10 to win this one having come out on top nine times out of 20 at the Den this term. A draw is 11/5 and Middlesbrough are 7/5 to win, giving them an implied win probability of 36%. 

Over 2.5 goals has come in during 46% of Boro’s games so far, and along with BTTS is 4/5. Conway is the favourite to open the scoring at 6/1. 

Draw @ 11/5 

I can’t separate these two right now. Millwall are on a stonking run of three wins out of four and Alex Neil has done a superb job since taking charge of the Lions, but they are getting the better of fine-margin games right now. They’ve secured all three of those wins by just one goal and the game they lost during this run was 1-0 to Sunderland.

They’ve gained 31 points from 20 home league games so far which gives them the 17th-best home record in the division, perhaps slightly worse than you would expect from the Lions at the Den. Meanwhile, Middlesbrough were unbeaten in four before Leeds came to town but they have certainly turned a corner of late. 

I think these two will cancel each other out and to the delight of the likes of Coventry and Bristol City, I can see the spoils being shared on Saturday afternoon. 

Bet Builder - Tommy Conway and Mihailo Ivanovic to score @ 8/1

Although I think this will actually be a relatively tight game, I do want to pick out two possible goalscorers for this crunch clash. Conway remains Middlesbrough’s biggest threat in my opinion and has 12 goals to his name this term, with two of those coming in his last five matches. 

Meanwhile, Ivanovic has got eight for the season but scored twice against Portsmouth in Millwall’s last home game. I backed him to score first at Bramall Lane at a big price, and although it was his teammate that struck first, I’m backing the big Serbian to find the net in this one. Bring on the goals! 

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