Stoke v Middlesbrough Betting Tips

Stoke suffered yet another drubbing at a top-six team last weekend as Tottenham put four past them in the first half, and they must now regroup ahead of a visit from Middlesbrough, who slipped to a 0-1 defeat at Crystal Palace to extend their winless run in the league to nine. It is over 19 years since Boro won at Stoke and with the Potters losing just once in their last eight home games Aitor Karanka’s men may well be in for another fruitless trip.

Stoke have been putting together solid performances on their own turf for some time now. They have lost only once there since losing their first couple of matches this season at home, and have gone W3-D4-L0 over their last seven there. They’ve drawn the first half in seven of their last nine against bottom-six teams, though, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them start slowly. Middlesbrough haven’t been flashy on the road – they haven’t won away this season since their first away day – but since then they’ve not lost by more than one goal. They’ve been level at the half in all but the most recent of these, though, so some frustration could lie in store for Potters fans expecting a thumping home win.

After losing four of their last five road games across all competition, we think Boro will be in for a disappointing afternoon, but we expect them to make Stoke work for it – we like Draw/Stoke HT/FT.