Middlesbrough kicked off a busy week of action with a 3-0 win over Leeds United in the League Cup.
Boro travelled to North Yorkshire for a meeting with bitter rivals Leeds United on Wednesday evening.
Michael Carrick saw Middlesbrough beat Swansea City 1-0 on the opening weekend of the Championship season.
It was the first win for the Teessiders on the opening weekend of a season for 10 years and Middlesbrough will have been looking to put an end to another winless streak in midweek.
Prior to their first-round League Cup tie, Middlesbrough were winless against Leeds since 2018.
When all was said and done at Elland Road, Carrick guided the Teessiders to their first win in six years.
It was an open game in the first 45 minutes and despite chances being shared, neither team was able to find an opener.
It took Middlesbrough just four minutes of the second half to break the deadlock, however, with Anfernee Dijksteel carrying the ball into the Leeds box before slotting past Karl Darlow.
The away outfit doubled their lead 11 minutes later when Delano Burgzorg netted his first Boro goal after being played through by Josh Coburn.
After 90 minutes of action, here are five things we learned from Middlesbrough’s meeting with Leeds.
Aidan Morris will be a top player for Middlesbrough
Aidan Morris was afforded his second start of the season on Wednesday and was looking to build on his solid debut versus Swansea.
The USA international had a few nervy moments last weekend but was able to break up play well and dictate play with his clever passing.
Morris was similarly stellar at Elland Road, pressing well and breaking up a number of Leeds attacks.
Considering this was only the American’s second game in England, his future at Boro looks very promising.
Michael Carrick must find cover for Lukas Engel
Kieran Scott and Carrick should be largely happy with the summer business they have done so far.
Key positions have been strengthened and Boro have quality depth in most areas of their squad.
However, it was clear on Wednesday that the North East outfit must sign another left-back before deadline day.
Alex Bangura is a long-term absentee, leaving Lukas Engel as the club’s only senior option in that area.
Engel has played fairly well in the opening two games of 2024/25 but it is not feasible for him to feature in every match this term.
George McCormick is the current back-up option at left-back but he is a central defender by trade and his first-team experience is very limited.
Middlesbrough have a defensive issue
Boro were plagued with injury issues during the 2023/24 season, with one of the main areas affected their defence.
Dargah Leninhan made just eight appearances in the previous campaign while Dael Fry missed the end of the campaign with an injury of his own.
The duo have continued to struggle to find fitness over the summer and were once again absent against Leeds.
In turn, with Carrick not wanting to overwork his only two fit senior centre-backs, he opted to start Jonny Howson in defence.
The club captain was ok in this role but Howson playing at the back weakens Carrick’s midfield and cannot continue throughout the 2024/25 campaign.
Howson also picked up an injury on Wednesday, meaning Boro now have even fewer options at the back.
16-year-old Harley Hunt started on the bench but he is not good enough to feature on a regular basis in the Championship just yet.
As a result, a new central defender may need to be signed before the window closes later this month.
Josh Coburn future at Middlesbrough is still unclear
The early stages of the League Cup generally mean very little to many teams, with both Boro and the Peackocks making heavy changes to their sides at Elland Road.
However, Wednesday’s clash was an important one for Boro’s starting striker on the night.
Josh Coburn is wanted by Millwall and his future on Teesside has been called into question, especially now Middlesbrough are expected to sign Tommy Conway.
With Conway likely to sign soon, the Leeds game appeared to represent one final chance for Coburn to prove himself to Carrick.
The 21-year-old set up Burgzorg for Boro’s second and tapped in a deflection to get himself on the scoresheet.
It is clear Coburn is a quality striker but his future at the club is still up in the air even after a solid showing against Leeds.
Anfernee Dijksteel still has role to play at Middlesbrough
With Carrick making seven changes to the eleven that beat Swansea, there were plenty of fringe stars afforded a chance to shine against Leeds.
One man who took that opportunity and ran with it was Dijksteel, who has previously found regular minutes hard to come by since Carrick arrived at the club.
The 27-year-old struggled defensively somewhat in the early stages of the first half but grew into the game, going on to put on a starring display.
He scored the opening goal of the match after making a darting run from deep and continued to cause Leeds problems with his crosses into the box.
It was claimed in May that Middlesbrough have made Dijksteel available for sale this summer but after his outing on Wednesday, Carrick should look to keep the right-back at the Riverside.