Middlesbrough vs Liverpool Preview, Team News, Line-Ups, Betting Tips & Prediction

Liverpool will be looking to get back to winning ways when they take on Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium this evening.

The Reds saw their title challenge further dented after being held to a hugely disappointing 2-2 draw at home to West Ham at the weekend with goalkeeper Loris Karius coming under fresh criticism for his performance between the sticks.

That result came after an equally frustrating 4-3 defeat at Bournemouth leaving Liverpool sitting third in the Premier League table and trailing leaders Chelsea by six points, so Jurgen Klopp will be desperate to get back to winning ways tonight.

That may not be an easy task as the Merseysiders will face a hard-to-beat Middlesbrough side who’ve conceded just 16 goals in their 15 matches, which is the fourth best defensive record in the entire division.

However, the Teeside club have found goals hard to come by at the other end as they’ve scored just 13 – the lowest in the league – which has left them sitting 16th in the table and just three points above the relegation zone.

Team news

Liverpool will hand a late fitness test to Dejan Lovren as the defender is a doubt after being forced off against West Ham with severe cramp. Ragnar Klavan is on stand-by to deputise at the back.

Emre Can is also likely to miss the game tonight after failing to recover from a knee injury which kept him out at the weekend so Gini Wijnaldum is expected to keep his place in midfield.

Daniel Sturridge is back in light training but isn’t ready to play just yet so he remains on the sidelines along with Philippe Coutinho.

Middlesbrough hope to have Alvaro Negredo back in contention after he recovered from a hamstring injury but Gaston Ramirez is out with a foot problem.

Likely Line-Ups

Predicted Score

Middlesbrough 0-1 Liverpool: Boro have proven to be a difficult side to beat so I’m not expecting an easy game at the Riverside for Liverpool. This will be a match of two contrasting playing styles with Liverpool’s gung-ho attacking football coming up against a well-organised, defensive Boro outfit so it will be interesting to see which comes out on top. I personally don’t see many goals in this one but am backing the Reds to have enough going forward to edge it 1-0.

Betting Tips

Liverpool are the 13/20 favourites to win the game but we can get you enhanced odds of 5/1 on a Reds victory – just click here to take advantage of these crazy odds. Here are some other bets I like the look of:

• Both teams to score NO at: 10/11 – a £10 bet would return £19
• Exact score of 1-0 Liverpool at: 6/1 – a £10 bet would return £70
• Firmino to score first in a 1-0 Liverpool win at: 18/1 – a £10 bet would return £190