Match Preview: Middlesbrough v Sunderland - all you need to know ahead of kick-off!

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Monday 5th September 2022

(20th) Middlesbrough v Sunderland (8th)

Championship

Riverside Stadium

Kick-Off: 20:00

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Tickets & Match Coverage

Tickets: Tickets are sold out.

TV/Stream: Full live match coverage available via Sky Sports.

Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)

Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.com!

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The build-up...

It’s amazing how frequently football throws up these scenarios where former players and managers end up going straight back to former clubs and tonight is one of those nights.

Tony Mowbray spent nine years as a player and three as a manager at Middlesbrough and is still hugely popular on Teesside, which gives tonight’s fixture an extra edge.

Our record at the Riverside and Ayresome Park before that has been pretty disastrous for a very long time, with only three wins from the previous thirty league meetings on Teesside in a run that stretches back to 1954.

Having said that, we travel the short distance down the A19 on the back of a good performance in midweek as we look to make it three wins from four games on the road should we take maximum points in front of the cameras tonight.

Photo by Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Before a ball was kicked this season there was real optimism that this year could be the one that takes Middlesbrough back up to the Premier League.

For the past 14 seasons, Boro’ have only spent one outside of the Championship in comparison to the 14 years before that where only one season was spent outside of the top flight.

But this season hasn’t quite gone to plan so far, with only one win in the opening seven games. Despite the poor start, they are still unbeaten on home soil with a win over Swansea City following draws against West Brom and Chris Wilder’s former club, Sheffield United.

They’re looking to gather some momentum tonight and will be looking at a big game against their local rivals in front of what could be close to a full house and the Sky cameras as the perfect opportunity to do so.

Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images

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The betting...

The bookies have Middlesbrough as favourites tonight at 4/5 for the win, with the Lads priced at 10/3 to pick up all three points and the draw is 5/2.

For a correct score, a 1-1 draw is the shortest odds at 5/51, followed by 6/1 for a 1-0 home win and a 1-0 away victory is 10/1.

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Head to head... at Middlesbrough

(All competitions)

• Sunderland wins: 22
• Draws: 18
• Middlesbrough wins: 36
• Sunderland goals: 91
• Middlesbrough goals: 120

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Last time we met... at the Riverside Stadium

Saturday 6th January 2018

FA Cup - 3rd Round

Middlesbrough 2-0 Sunderland

[Gestede 10’, Braithwaite 42’]

Sunderland: Steele, Love, Jones, Browning, O’Shea, Oviedo, Wilson, Robson (Embleton), Honeyman, McManaman (Asoro), Maja (Vaughan) Substitutes not used: Ruiter, Gallloway, Beadling, Gamble

Middlesbrough: Randolph, Shotton, Friend (Christie), Leadbiter, Ayala, Gibson, Traore (Johnson), Howson, Gestede, Braithwaite (Clayton), Downing Substitutes not used: Dimitrios, Forshaw, Fletcher, Assombalonga

Attendance: 26,399

Photo by Richard Sellers/PA Images via Getty Images

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Played for both...

Peter Davenport

Davenport was plucked from the West Cheshire league by Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest and didn’t look back. Four years at the City Ground resulted in a move to Manchester United in 1986 under Ron Atkinson and then Alex Ferguson before joining Middlesbrough and then the Lads in 1990.

Three years and 120 appearances later, Davenport made a move north of the border to join Airdrie. Spells at St Johnstone, Stockport County, Southport and Macclesfield Town followed before retiring 2004.

Photo by Ross Kinnaird/EMPICS via Getty Images

Julio Arca

Signed as a 19-year-old from Argentinos Juniors, Arca settled in quickly on the pitch as he became an important part of Peter Reid’s side after joining at the start of the 2000-01 season.

The Argentinian would go on to make 177 appearances until 2006 when he made the move to Boro’ after our relegation from the Premier League. After seven years at the Riverside, Arca retired in 2013.

Photo by Steve Morton/EMPICS via Getty Images

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