Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray hosts his former club this coming Tuesday as Middlesbrough travel to Ewood Park in pursuit of three wins on the bounce.
Rovers suffered defeat at the hands of Swansea City at the weekend, while Boro leapt to fifth in the table after a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the Riverside.
Match preview
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Despite scoring plenty of goals so far this season, Blackburn Rovers will be disappointed that they sit in 14th place in the Championship table and five points off the playoff places.
They are, in fact, the league's top scorers but have become porous at the back in recent weeks which in turn has led to three defeats in their last four outings.
For all their efforts on Saturday, a high-flying Swansea side proved too strong for Rovers and they will face a similarly stubborn defence in Middlesbrough come Tuesday night.
Mowbray will be hoping his side can take advantage of two home fixtures before the international break, as they first face Boro and then welcome Queens Park Rangers.
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For the second time in five days, Boro were made to wait until the 81st minute to break the deadlock, before going on to take three points at home. This time it was Marvin Johnson who arrived at the back post to cooly slot home after having been on the pitch for only three minutes.
Now unbeaten since losing on the opening day to Watford, Boro now find themselves in the playoff places having conceded a league-low five goals.
Boro are not blowing teams away, but their defensive solidity is showing that they do not necessarily need to. With organisation and hard work - so often clear characteristics of any Neil Warnock team - one goal at the other end is proving to be enough currently.
Warnock's men now face two tough away fixtures against Blackburn and Brentford, both of whom will pose much threat to the Boro goal. Combined, these two sides have scored 34 goals this season and are far and away the league's most potent goalscorers.
Blackburn Rovers Championship form: DLLWLL
Middlesbrough Championship form: WDWDWW
Team News
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Blackburn Rovers will assess Adam Armstrong in training on Monday to review the severity of the hamstring issue he sustained during the defeat to Swansea City.
Thomas Kaminski and Daniel Ayala are both doubts after sustaining 'minor' groin injuries in recent weeks and Rovers will be unwilling to rush their recovery. Tony Mowbray will hope Armstrong does not face a similar situation.
Warnock may look to recall Chuba Akpom after he recovered from the illness that kept him out of the starting lineup on Saturday.
Centre-half Dael Fry will also be a late call after he missed the home win against Forest. Hometown boy Nathan Wood could again deputise after impressing.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Pears; Nyambe, Lenihan, Williams, Bell; Trybull, Holtby, Johnson; Elliott, Armstrong, Brereton
Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Bettinelli; Dijksteel, Wood, McNair; Howson; Spence, Morsy, Saville, Tavernier; Roberts, Akpom
We say: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Middlesbrough
This matchup sees the league's top scorers face the division's most miserly defence and will be a closely contested encounter. Boro's ability to grind out a result has been there for all to see in recent weeks and we expect them to take a point away from Ewood Park.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or draw in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Draw:dataData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Blackburn Rovers win with a probability of 42.45%. A win for Middlesbrough had a probability of 29.89% and a draw had a probability of 27.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Blackburn Rovers win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.5%) and 2-0 (8.09%). The likeliest Middlesbrough win was 0-1 (9.94%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.99%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.5% likelihood.
