Middlesbrough resume Championship action this weekend, as they travel to southeast Wales to face Cardiff City.
Michael Carrick‘s side have been on a phenomenal run of form and whilst that did come to an end on Monday, as they suffered a 4-3 defeat to Leeds United, it was certainly a performance fans could be proud of.
The final two games are all about building momentum ahead of next season and it may also give fringe players the opportunity to impress Carrick.
With that said EFL pundits have just predicted the score when Boro face Cardiff on Saturday afternoon.
EFL pundits predict Cardiff City vs Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough will want to finish the season strongly and they certainly haven’t been playing like a side with nothing to play for.
Against Leeds, they produced one of their best performances of the campaign and were worthy of a draw at the least.
So what do the pundits think will happen when they face The Bluebirds…
Former Swindon Town striker Sam Parkin, speaking on the Championship Check-In podcast, said: “I’m just going to go with a bit of a kind of freedom, on the beach narrative here.
“Middlesbrough like I so often say are a really good watch and Cardiff have pulled out a couple of results recently haven’t they?
“I’m going to go with a 2-2, good fun in the sun.”
Benjamin Bloom added: “I fancy Cardiff, Sam.
“I think Middlesbrough are going to be a bit loose, so I’ll go both teams to score and I will go 2-1.
“Cardiff 2-1 Middlesbrough.”
The last time the two sides met
The last time these pair met, Middlesbrough secured a 2-0 victory at the Riverside Stadium back at the beginning of October.
Isaiah Jones netted the opener with Emmanuel Latte Lath adding a second to seal all three points, which at the time, moved them up to 16th in the league table.
Heading into this weekend’s affair, Boro reside in ninth, just one point ahead of Cardiff, so they’ve been of a similar level this term.
The hosts defeated promotion-hopefuls Southampton 2-1 in their last outing, so clearly, they aren’t playing like a team on the beach.
So with that said, it could be a great watch for the neutral, with both sides gunning for the three points to end the campaign well.