Alan Hansen’s Championship Pick: Middlesbrough v West Brom

The Championship’s top two go head-to-head this weekend at the Riverside in what promises to be an intriguing game between two sides aiming for a quick return to the Premier League. Roberto Di Matteo’s West Brom team have started the season in style, remain unbeaten plus top both the league and the scoring charts. Gareth Southgate’s young Boro team have coped admirably with the sale of a number of their stars and sit a point behind the Baggies having won five of their 7 games.

These two teams seem relatively evenly matched so a draw looks a decent shout for my Premier 10 prediction. Middlesbrough may have suffered a surprise defeat at Bristol City last month but Gareth will be more than happy with their response since. Two 3-1 wins over Ipswich at home and Sheffield Wednesday away suggest that this young team will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

Despite losing the likes of Stewart Downing, Mido, Ross Turnbull, Tuncay and Robert Huth, Boro still have a quality squad for Championship level. Gareth may have been operating on a shoestring budget but he’s brought in a number of sound acquisitions who’ve importantly got experience of the division. Players like Mark Yeates, Sean St Ledger and Leroy Lita are all have points to prove which has added to the hunger within a squad that struggled last season.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

West Brom may be leading scorers in the division but they may struggle to break down Boro at the Riverside. Middlesbrough have conceded just once at home and that single goal came via the penalty spot which suggests the Baggies will have their work cut out against David Wheater and co. However, Di Matteo’s team has scored in all 9 of their league and cup matches. They’ve also shared the goals amongst the players with 12 different scorers already this season. West Brom did the league ‘double’ over Boro last season but with so many personnel changes in both sides, I don’t this will have any bearing on this match.

Adam Johnson has been the star of the season so far for Boro with 5 league goals in just seven appearances. The young winger has attracted the attention of numerous clubs in his short career but the departure of Downing and the chance to play more regularly has seen him emerge as a top player in his own right. This result may depend on how well the Baggies cope with his dribbling ability but with both sides in excellent form, I’m backing the draw on Premier 10.

Tags: Alan Hansen, Championship, Middlesbrough, Premier 10, West Brom

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 19th, 2009 at 09:37 and is filed under Blog, Home Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.