Middlesbrough will be taking on Ipswich Town in a relatively dead rubber encounter as they sealed their playoffs berth by securing a 2-0 win last weekend against Millwall. Tony Pulis has done a terrific job with this team and they are in with a good shout for qualifications through the playoffs to the Premier League.
The Teessiders are in good form at the moment as they have won four matches out of their last five and even though this game doesn’t have much of a significance on the table, Pulis’ men will be looking to end the season on a high and would like to continue with the winning momentum before the all-important playoffs.
Pulis can go on to test his bench strength for this encounter, however, it is expected that he will go in with a full-strength squad against midtable Ipswich Town. He has made this team disciplined and defensively organised as Boro haven’t lost a single game this season where they have taken the lead.
Britt Assombalonga’s performance has kept Patrick Bamford out of the first eleven even after his return from injury. He opened the scoring in the last game and scored the winner against Derby County and it is expected that the Congolese forward will start again.
Rudy Gestede is one of the long-term absentees in the Boro squad. Apart from that, there are no major injury concerns for them.
Here is how they will most likely lineup against Ipswich Town.
Formation(4-3-3)
Defence-
Tony Pulis’ side are known for defensive stability and that is what he has brought to the team since he has arrived at the Riverside Stadium. Darren Randolph will be expected to start in goal.
He has kept 16 clean sheets in all competitions this season which is an impressive haul for the Irish stopper. The tried and tested centre-back pairing of Daniel Ayala and Ben Gibson will start. Ryan Shotton and George friend will start in their fullback roles to complete a solid back four.
Midfield:
Adam Clayton and Muhamed Besic will play in the middle of the park and they will be expected to keep things ticking in midfield along with shielding the defence. Jonny Howson will have the job of providing creative output from midfield.
Attack:
Adama Traore and Stewart Downing will be on the left and right wing respectively and the in-form Britt Assombalonga will lead the line as he has scored two goals in the last two games taking his tally to 15.
