EFL Championship betting tips: Champions elect Burnley face tough test at Middlesbrough

Vincent Kompany’s Burnley could move to within one point of automatic promotion on Friday night, but Michael Carrick and his Middlesbrough players have promotion plans of their own.

2023-04-05EFL Championship betting tips: Champions elect Burnley face tough test at Middlesbrough

Key Stats

Middlesbrough have the second-best home attack in the league with 36 goals

Burnley are the second most potent away team in the league with 31 goals

Boro have scored in 89% of home games, while Burnley have scored in 89% of away games

Suggested Bets:

Both teams to score

Verdict

Winning the Championship in any season is impressive, but it's the style with which Vincent Kompany's Burnley are doing it that stands out.

The comparisons might be inevitable and boring, but there's a touch of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City about the way Burnley suffocate teams, win possession, and wear down their opponents with shot after shot.

Burnley's average possession of 64.3% is the highest in the league, and with just 29 goals in the against column through 38 games, it's a side that embodies their manager's admirable qualities as a player.

Free-scoring Middlesbrough are a team capable of putting those defensive capabilities through the stiffest of tests. They've found the net 16 times in five home games, with Chuba Akpom netting half of those goals.

The Championship's most prolific scorer will fancy his chances against any side, and as fearsome as Burnley's defence looks on paper, they have conceded eight goals across six games versus the current top six.

Burnley average close to a goal a game against on their travels and backing Middlesbrough to find the net seems an obvious starting point, and it's interesting to note that both sides average around 2.60 goals per game home and away respectively.

The midfield battle could be the key to victory in this game as both sides like to control the ball and do better when they do, but Middlesbrough have shown their threat on the counter and that'll be a factor.

Burnley have nothing to fear and Middlesbrough can't afford to let this one slip away, so it should descend into an entertaining and open game at some stage.