Wednesday’s FA Cup fourth round replay sees North-East rivals Middlesbrough and Sunderland go head-to-head at the Riverside Stadium for the right to face Arsenal on home soil in round five (match prices).
Tony Mowbray’s Championship side pulled off a surprise result at the Stadium of Light just over a week ago when they held their in-form Premier League neighbours to a 1-1 draw when Barry Robson’s first half volley for Boro was cancelled out by fit-again Black Cats hitman Fraizer Campbell in the second half.
However, while Boro might have felt they had a great chance to finish the job in front of their own fans this week, circumstances have cruelly gone against the Teessiders over the past 10 days with Mowbray admitting his squad is now “down to the bare bones”.
Robson, fellow midfielder Faris Haroun, goalkeeper Danny Coyne and strike duo Scott McDonald and Marvin Emnes, who all started the original tie, have picked up injuries and look set to miss out to add to the costly absence of influential midfielder Nicky Bailey and striker Bart Ogbeche.
Boro do have first-choice goalkeeper Jason Steele back fit, while Julio Arca is available to face his former club having served a three-match suspension and 19-year-old striker Curtis Main (8/1 First Goalscorer) is set to be handed his first start alongside January signing Lukas Jutkiewicz (15/8 Anytime Goalscorer) in attack.
The form book is not too good for Boro as Saturday’s goalless draw against Crystal Palace was their third successive stalemate in all competitions, while they have not won a league game since the 1-0 Boxing Day home victory against Hull City.
Boro have struggled for Championship wins at home all season as they have drawn eight times at the Riverside, while they have not scored more than one goal on home soil in their last seven outings.
On the other hand Sunderland make the short trip down the A19 from Wearside still brimming with confidence from a magnificent run of form inspired by the arrival of new boss Martin O’Neill in December.
The Northern Irishman has guided the Black Cats to seven Premier League wins in 10 games at the helm, while Saturday’s 1-0 success at Stoke means they have won four of their last five on the road.
O’Neill also has selection problems to contend with as loan signings Wayne Bridge and Sotirios Kyrgiakos are ineligible, while skipper Lee Cattermole’s hamstring injury will again deny him a run out against his former club.
Nicklas Bendtner, Wes Brown, David Vaughan, Matt Kilgallon and Titus Bramble all remain on the sidelines.
However the original tie’s goal hero Campbell (11/2 Last Goalscorer) is set to feature and O’Neill is likely to stick with young winger James McClean (9/4 Anytime Goalscorer), who scored the winner at Stoke and caused plenty of problems for Boro at the Stadium of Light.
In recent meetings at the Riverside, Boro have not beaten their local rivals since a 3-0 win in September 2002, while there have been two draws and a Sunderland victory in the following three fixtures.
The two sides have met four times in the FA Cup over the years with the record standing at two wins apiece.
Following the original tie, we anticipated another close encounter between the two sides with even the prospect of extra times and penalties (23/10 Draw 90 Minutes).
However, while both teams have further depleted squads to select from, we now feel the loss of at least five regular first-team players will leave Boro too short to pull off an upset and fully expect Sunderland to get the job done within 90 minutes.
Prediction: Sunderland Away 90 Minutes @ 21/20
Value Bet: Campbell 1st Goal Sunderland 2-0 Scorecast @ 33/1
Want £200 Free? Click here to visit Bet365 and claim your free money.
Miroslav Klose has been added to Bayern Munich’s growing injury list, leaving Louis van Gaal with fewer options going into Friday’s must-win Bundesliga clash at home to Freiburg (Bayern 2/7 to win in 90 Minutes).