Sky Bet Championship: Middlesbrough v Hull betting preview, tip & TV details

Football tips, best bets and predictions for Middlesbrough v Hull City in the Sky Bet Championship.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Football and Main Event, midday Sunday

Best bet

Hull City
1pt 19-10 Betway

Back this tip with bet365

Team news

Middlesbrough
Aynsley Pears (finger) and George Friend (thigh) are in contention but Rudy Gestede, Ryan Shotton and Marcus Browne (all hamstring) are out. George Saville is suspended.

Hull City
Jon Toral (knee) is out long-term and Norbert Balogh (calf) will miss the next fortnight. Josh Magennis completes a four-game ban.

Match preview

Middlesbrough are the only club in the Sky Bet Championship relegation zone who have not sacked their manager this season but the pressure on Jonathan Woodgate could increase with a loss to Hull at the Riverside Stadium.

Woodgate insists his team have deserved to earn more points but results have fallen well below expectations with Boro winning just two of 16 league games.

They approach the Hull match on a winless sequence of nine league matches, their longest since the 2016-17 campaign when they were a top-flight club.

Woodgate works for a patient chairman in Steve Gibson and retains plenty of support among the Boro fanbase, who fondly remember his contributions as a player and were eager to see the back of the defensive style of play favoured by his predecessor, Tony Pulis.

But there was lack of quality in the squad Pulis left behind and those issues were not rectified by the summer recruitment.

Of the five new signings, only left-back Anfernee Dijksteel has been a regular starter and even he has found himself out of favour in recent weeks.

Hull are working within similar budgetary constraints but their manager, Grant McCann, who was recruited from Doncaster this summer, inherited better players.

Classy attackers Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki stayed with the club and their respective goal tallies of nine and five account for more than half the team's total of 23.

Results have been a little inconsistent for McCann's liking but a playoff push is a possibility if they tidy up their defensive work.

Offensively, they are far superior to Boro and they look overpriced to win the game.

Key stat

Middlesbrough have not won any of their last nine fixtures.

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