Blackburn vs Middlesbrough

19/1- Blackburn seem to have benefitted the most after the break the teams had and look to be firing on all cylinders in the past few matches. They have managed to pull off 9 points in the last 3 matches which equates to three consecutive wins. They look in tremendous form and look to be unstoppable, they would be more than happy to plays hosts to a team like Middlesbrough who are lying in the bottom half of the table. While Blackburn are lying at the 8^th spot on the table, Middlesbrough are a distant 14^th and are just a point clear of the relegation zone. Middlesbrough however have a reason to smile as they enter the competition after a creditable 1-1 home draw against Liverpool. Blackburn would also be on a high as they defeated Bolton 1-2 in an away tie at the Reebok Stadium last week.

Blackburn are a side that has scored decently in this premiership season with Santa Cruz being their topmost scorer with 10 goals to his credit. The problem for the home team lies in their defence, they have given away too many goals for their liking, in fact at home the number of scored against them is equal to the number of goals scored by them. Despite of everything appearing to be favourable, the home team cannot take this lightly as they have a good chance of scoring valuable 3 points and that would take them closer to the battle for the European championship places. They are currently 3 points behind the 4 teams locked together from position 4 to 7.

Middlesbrough on the other hand would be aware that they are terribly close to the bottom half of the table, may be they are on the 14^th position but a point is no safe distance. They would be happy with a point from the match as a win looks quite unlikely.

Prediction: 2-0, Blackburn win