Middlesbrough travel to Wales on Saturday afternoon for a Championship meeting with Cardiff City.
Boro are back in league action this weekend after exiting the League Cup in the second round on Tuesday.
Middlesbrough lost 5-0 to Stoke City in midweek – the latest in a string of concerning results for Michael Carrick.
The Teessiders beat Swansea City on the opening weekend of the campaign at the Riverside Stadium.
However, despite having 70 percent possession and 20 shots on goal, Middlesbrough lost 1-0 versus Derby County in their second Championship fixture of 2024/25.
Another newly-promoted side awaited the North East outfit this past weekend when they played host to Portsmouth.
A win was expected for Carrick and co. but in the end, defensive errors saw Boro forced to settle for a 2-2 draw.
Middlesbrough now travel to Cardiff for a 12:30pm BST kick-off on Saturday, August 31st.
David Prutton gives Cardiff City vs Middlesbrough score prediction
Cardiff are currently dead bottom of the Championship table and are one of just six sides yet to pick up a win this term.
Now, speaking on the Sky Sports Championship Predictions podcast ahead of the weekend, former Leeds United and Nottingham Forest midfielder David Prutton gave his score prediction for the clash in Cardiff.
Prutton said: “There was obviously a bit of drama last time out against Pompey with a very late penalty but you get the feeling that it’s again it’s too early in the season to say there’s anything categorically wrong with these sides that haven’t quite started as well as we thought they would do.
“I just think some are taking a bit more time to get up to the speed of it and I think you can possibly file Cardiff under that as well.
“I’m going to go 0-1 Boro.”
Michael Carrick has big decision to make for Cardiff City vs Middlesbrough
On paper, Saturday’s game should be a fairly routine win for Middlesbrough.
But as they have shown in their last two league outings, Boro do not normally start campaigns well.
One of the club’s biggest problem areas this term has been their defence, with Middlesbrough’s left-back spot in particular, a real concern
Lukas Engel has been Boro’s only senior option in that position to start the season but Neto Borges has joined from Clermont Foot 63 this week.
The Brazilian has had very little time to prepare for the Cardiff meeting but Carrick should consider starting him on Saturday.
Engel has been very poor in Middlesbrough’s last two games and if he starts this weekend, it could cost them another couple of points.