Middlesbrough make the trip to Wales to take on Swansea this weekend in a big weekend of Championship football. Both sides are stuck in the mid table and need a win to get some good run of form going into the busy Christmas period.
Swansea currently sit 16th in the Championship after 21 games. The Swans have six wins, seven draws and eight losses leaving them on 25 points, already eight points behind Sunderland in the last Play-off spot.
In their last five games in all competitions, Swansea have one win, three draws and one loss.
The first draw came against Hull City. Jamie Paterson and Jerry Yates gave Swansea the 2 - 0 lead before the 25 minute mark. However, Jaden Philogene and Tyler Morton both scored in the second half to grab a 2 - 2 draw. The next time out for Swansea, Paterson was on the scoresheet again, this time in the first minute against Leeds. Joel Piroe equalised for Leeds within two minutes and Georginio Rutter gave Leeds the lead before halftime. Daniel James then wrapped up a 3 - 1 win for Leeds in the second half.
A Ben Cabango own goal in the third minute opened the scoring for Huddersfield, and despite having 78% of the possession and 22 shots in comparison to Huddersfield’s five shots, it took Swansea until extra time to strike back. Charlie Patino scored in the 94th minute to rescue a 1 - 1 draw and a point for Swansea. The one win came against a struggling Rotherham. After the early red card to Daniel Ayala, Patino opened the scoring for Swansea. Sam Nombe did equalise for Rotherham, but Yates’ goal in the 73rd minute gave Swansea the 2 - 1 win.
The last time out for Swansea was against Stoke City. A penalty from Daniel Johnson in the 70th minute opened the scoring for Stoke, but a goal in the last minute of normal time from Harry Darling grabbed a 1 - 1 draw for Swansea.
Middlesbrough, on the other hand, sit four spots above Swansea in 12th. In 20 games, Middlesbrough have eight wins, three draws and nine losses which leaves them on 27 points, just six points from the Play-offs.
In their last five games in all competitions, Middlesbrough have one win and four losses.
A goal from Taylor Gardner-Hickman and a penalty from Tommy Conway gave Bristol City the 2 - 0 lead at halftime. An own goal from Zak Vyner and a goal from Matt Crooks drew Middlesbrough level, but a goal from Mark Sykes scored to give Bristol City the 3 - 2 win. Middlesbrough bounced back against Preston. A brace from Isaiah Jones and goals from Rav van den Berg and Alex Bangura gave Middlesbrough the 4 - 0 win.
Emmanuel Lath opened the scoring for Middlesbrough in the third minute, but James equalised for Leeds within two minutes. The lead was extended by Crysencio Summerville and a Joel Piroe penalty before halftime. Lath did score again but the red card to Anfernee Dijksteel gave Leeds the 3 - 2 win. Against Ipswich Town both Conor Chaplin and Omari Hutchinson scored to give Ipswich the 2 - 0 win over Middlesbrough.
The most recent outing was against Hull City. Lath opened the scoring early again for Middlesbrough, but goals from Liam Delap and Ozan Tufan gave Hull the 2 - 1 win.
Swansea and Middlesbrough have met 54 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in 1925. Middlesbrough have the better record in the fixture with 23 wins in comparison to Swansea’s 19 wins, with the other 12 games ending in a draw.