Middlesbrough will be looking to pull off another upset and advance to the semi-finals of the League Cup when they face Everton at the Riverside Stadium on Tuesday. Both sides pulled through after penalty shootouts in the previous round. Everton have not lost against Middlesbrough in the last six direct matches. The last meeting was in the FA Cup back in 2009 and Everton won 2-1. The last time these two sides clashed in the League Cup it was Middlesbrough that prevailed, they won 1-0 at Goodison Park in 2005.
Middlesbrough pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the last sixteen round as they knocked out Manchester United after a penalty shootout. The match was played at Old Trafford and Boro held the Red Devils goalless for 120 minutes. Middlesbrough won the League Cup once before, they beat Bolton in the final at the Millennium Stadium in 2004. They are currently second in the Championship after two consecutive wins and three victories out of their last four matches. Tomas Kalas might miss out due to an injury but Adam Forshaw could make his return to the starting line up after coming off the bench last weekend.
Everton knocked out fellow Premier League side Norwich City in the previous round, but only after a penalty shootout, while in the rounds before that they had to come from behind to beat Barnsley and Reading. The Toffees have not reached the quarter-finals of this competition since 2007-2008, when they did manage to reach the last four. They have never won the League Cup, even though they have played the final on two occasions. They are unbeaten in their last four premier League matches, but last weekend they threw away a two-goal lead in a 3-3 draw with Bournemouth. James McCarthy and Gareth Barry have picked up injuries during the weekend match, they will be unavailable alongside Phil Jagielka, Bryan Oviedo, Tony Hibbert and Steven Pienaar.
Probable line-ups:
Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos - Nsue, Ayala, Gibson, Friend - Clayton, Zuculini, Stuani, Forshaw, Adomah - Nugent
Everton: Robles - Coleman, Stones, Funes Mori, Galloway - Cleverley, Lennon, Barkley, Gibson, Naismith - Lukaku
My prediction: Everton to win 1-0.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Middlesbrough win - 3.00 Draw - 3.40 Everton win - 2.50
GREGJO 8 years ago
In my opinion this is a very hard match to predict. Both teams are in red hot form but I think Everton's attack is much better than Middlesbroughs so I think the Toffees will be able to outscore the home side. But Middlesbrough are a very good team this season especially at home (8 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 19:2 goal difference)....
In my opinion this is a very hard match to predict. Both teams are in red hot form but I think Everton's attack is much better than Middlesbroughs so I think the Toffees will be able to outscore the home side. But Middlesbrough are a very good team this season especially at home (8 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss, 19:2 goal difference). Nevertheless they will have a hard match in the Championship as well just three days later when they face Ipswich away from home. I think Everton will qualify to the next round but only after overtime. My prediction is 1-1.
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sharpe 8 years ago
I think the most important for Middlesbrough this season will be to secure their place in the Premier League finally, after they were always close and never succeeded in the last seasons. Yes a cup break is a nice thing ( they've had such in the FA cup last season) but maybe just that didn't allowed the team to win a premier...
I think the most important for Middlesbrough this season will be to secure their place in the Premier League finally, after they were always close and never succeeded in the last seasons. Yes a cup break is a nice thing ( they've had such in the FA cup last season) but maybe just that didn't allowed the team to win a premier league spot in the end. So I think they really have to chose better which are the most important battles for them. Cup break - nice, but a spot in the PL a thousand times more important for the future of the club.
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