Middlesbrough vs Swansea City Prediction: Both teams were disappointment last time

Middlesbrough will play hosts to Swansea City at the Riverside Stadium in the opening game week of the English Championship. Both teams were a disappointment last time around and will look to improve upon those performances. Who will claim all three points after 90 minutes?

For Michael Carrick and Middlesbrough, the 2023-24 season was way different from the first in charge, which ended in eighth place. The aim for this campaign is to hit the ground running after it took eight matches to get a win in the previous season. There has been little disruption to this squad, with just midfielder Aidan Morris and forward Delano Burgzorg arriving at the club. More signings are likely to arrive, with Boro yet to bring in any loan players, but Carrick is hopeful after an excellent pre-season. 

Dieng; Ayling, Van den Berg, Clarke, Engel; Howson, Hackney; Jones, McGree, Azaz; Latte Lath

The Luke Williams at Swansea used the second half of the 2023-24 campaign to assess his squad for the upcoming play-off push. While most of the senior players were retained, new acquisitions in the shape of Goncalo Franco, Eom Ji-sung, and Zan Vipotnik were also made. The success of these signings is yet to be seen although Williams was elated with a 3-0 win over Rio Ave in the final pre-season match. Swansea's management seems to be backing Williams more than they did with Michael Duff, who was shown the door almost immediately last season, and are hopefully expecting more stability under his watch.

Vigouroux; Key, Cabango, Darling, Tymon; Grimes, Fulton, Franco; Abdulai, Cullen, Cooper

In comparison, Swansea, under Williams, seem more settled and may spring a surprise or two this season. However we have to plump for a Middlesbrough win in a close game but they will have to ride their luck at times. We expect both teams to be on the scoresheet in the game.