Middlesbrough vs West Brom prediction, best bets, odds & team news: 18/5 Whittaker can silence doubters

Championship leaders Middlesbrough have the chance to extend their advantage at the top of the table to four points when they play hoast to West Bromwich Albion at the Riverside Stadium on Friday (8pm, Sky Sports).

Rob Edwards’ side have won four and drawn one of their opening five games, and they sit one point clear of Stoke City at the top of the table.

Their good start has seen them move to fourth favourites in the Championship promotion odds, behind Ipswich, Coventry and Southampton on most betting sites. Friday’s opponents are in the promotion betting mix too, albeit a little futher down the list.

Boro’s wins have come against Swansea, Millwall, Norwich and Sheffield United before their 100% record was brought to an end last weekend by Preston North End with a 2-2 draw at Deepdale.

The home side twice took the lead through Lewis Dobbin and Jordan Storey, only for Boro to equalise through Matt Targett and Sontje Hansen, who grabbed a point in added time.

West Brom’s new boss, Ryan Mason, has also had an impressive start to the season with three wins, one draw and one defeat, and they sit fifth in the table on 10 points.

The wins have come against Blackburn, Wrexham and second-placed Stoke, while they drew 1-1 with Portsmouth and lost 1-0 at home to Derby County last time out.

As well as keeping three clean sheets in their opening five league games, Boro have been impressive at the opposite end of the pitch, scoring nine goals so far.

The Baggies have scored just six, and three of those came against Wrexham, and they have conceded four, keeping just two clean sheets.

Edwards’ side has won the last three meetings between these two sides, and all without West Brom scoring.

You have to go back to August 2023 for Albion’s last win when goals from Cedric Kipre, John Swift, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jeremy Sarmiento secured a 4-2 win, which was helped by the red card for Tommy Smith after 51 minutes.

Football betting sites make Boro favourites, but so far they have found life difficult at the Riverside with two very narrow 1-0 wins and a 4-0 League Cup defeat to Doncaster, so they will have to perform better on Friday.

The Baggies have won both their away games this season and look good enough to secure a share of the spoils.

Middlesbrough vs West Brom prediction: Draw & BTTS - 18/5 BetVictor

Last week, Jaden Philogene was getting criticism from Ipswich fans, and I backed him to score his first goal of the season against Sheffield United, only for him to bag a hat-trick in their 5-0 win, which spelt the end for the Blades boss Ruben Selles.

This week, I am backing Morgan Whittaker to be on target after he was singled out for criticism from the Boro fans who made the trip to Preston last weekend.

He was ironically cheered when he was replaced by Manchester City loanee Sverre Nypan, which disappointed Edwards, who spoke up against the travelling fans after the game.

The forward is yet to score for the club, since arriving for £6m from Plymouth in January, and patience is wearing thin with some fans.

His last league goal came in October 2024, but his last full season for Argyle, he scored 20 goals at this level, so we all know he’s more than capable. His recent numbers mean his Championship odds to score look a little on the large side.

Middlesbrough vs West Brom prediction: Morgan Whittaker to score at any time - 18/5 BetMGM

Middlesbrough: Sverre Nypan and Sontje Hansen are both in contention to start for Middlesbrough after the impact they both made from the substitutes' bench at Preston.

West Brom: Injured duo Krystian Bielik and Karlan Grant are both expected to miss out again, with the former still yet to make his debut after signing from Birmingham City in the summer.

Using our Middlesbrough vs West Brom best bets, punters can put together a bet builder for the game. The bet builder would feature the following three selections:

A bet builder featuring these three selections would pay a best price of 20/1 with BetMGM.

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