Middlesbrough vs Sunderland – Match Preview

It’s the final North-East Derby of the season and it could be the last for a while. Newcastle may be celebrating the fact that they have gained promotion to the top flight but they may not have a local rival to face off against when they return to the Premier League.

That’s because of the plight of both Middlesbrough and Sunderland is looking pretty bad at the moment and although this is a ‘6 pointer’ this evening, even if you were to award 6 points to the eventual winner it would still end up not being nearly enough.

Whoever wins will keep themselves alive for another week and although neither team cannot get mathematically relegated tonight it would mean defeat for either side signals all but the end in regards to their fight to beat the drop this season.

For home side Middlesbrough they find themselves 19th and currently nine points from safety, realistically they are going to have to win four of their last five matches to beat the drop. When you consider they have only won four all season then that is a huge task.

For basement side Sunderland who make the short journey to The Riverside Stadium, they are now in the situation where it is pretty much win or bust in every game. Even if they did pick up a maximum point haul between now and the end of the season there is no guarantee that it would be enough to stay up.

That is because David Moyes’ men find themselves on a paltry 21 points at present and even if they were to win their last six matches it would only take them to 39. One short of the hallowed 40 point marker, but in fairness this is all conjecture as even the most optimistic Sunderland fan could not see them winning their last six matches.

So we are in a situation where it is pretty much sudden death for both clubs, one defeat and it is all but game over. Both managers are probably planning for life in The Championship already but a loss tonight will speed up those plans considerably.

Last time out Middlesbrough had a day to forget on the South Coast as they were heavily beaten 4-0 by Bournemouth. They were behind within 90 seconds, 2-0 down soon after and then had to play with 10 men for the best part of 70 minutes.

Gaston Ramirez was shown a very early bath and he will miss this game through suspension. He picked up two yellow cards after a ludicrous dive and a reckless tackle. Two moments that were just inviting the referee to caution him, Ramirez can have no real complaints about his sending off.

Middlesbrough fans certainly had complaints after their teams abject performance at The Vitality Stadium, the players did apologise afterwards but that can only go so far especially for the fans who traveled a tremendously long distance that day.

For Sunderland life is no rosier, they did not play at the weekend and that will have probably come as a welcome break for David Moyes. His side will be fresher going into this one as they look for a first win in eight matches, since then they have picked up just two points.

A stalemate against Burnley and a creditable draw with West Ham, both coming at The Stadium Of Light. But those two matches have been the only break in the darkness as of late as Sunderland’s hopes of survival diminish with every week that passes.

Something has to give tonight for either side. But then again it will just be delaying the inevitable, someone has to take the initiative and grab the game round the scruff of the neck. Then again I can see this one ending up in a very scruffy draw, a result that helps absolutely no-one.