The first round of the Carabao Cup and the commencement of the Football season begin this week, and the first round has delivered a mouth-watering match between two sides expected to compete for top spots in the Championship, Middlesbrough and Wrexham.
Middlesbrough were embroiled in a controversial playoff route last season with Southampton amidst the Spygate scandal, and despite the ruling falling in favour of Middlesbrough, the home side for this fixture fell short at Wembley, going down to a resilient Hull City side late on in injury time. The summer preparation has seen Kim Hellberg's side go winless in their recognised pre-season fixtures against Espanyol, Huddersfield Town and Celtic respectively. This run has extended Middlesbrough's winless run to eight games since the disastrous form which cost them promotion last season.
The summer transfer window has seen Middlesbrough reap the benefit of the windfall from Morgan Rogers to Chelsea, as the Teeside club have splashed the cash on Will Lankshear from Tottenham Hotspur. Lankshear spent last season at struggling Oxford United, who were eventually relegated, but he provided a solid return with 11 goals in 34 league starts.
As for Wrexham, the Welsh side narrowly missed out on the playoffs last season, but with the inclusion of eight teams to fight for a chance at Wembley, the Red Dragons are expected to be one of the teams pushing for one of those spots. Wrexham were known for their cup exploits last season, reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup, where they were beaten by eventual finalists Chelsea.
Wrexham have beaten Manchester United in pre-season, while bolstering their ranks with Danny Imray from Crystal Palace for an undisclosed fee. Admittedly, both teams will see this game as a chance to gain some competitive rhythm, so we are not expecting a goal fest here.
The two sides could not be separated in the league last season in the head-to-head meetings, with a draw each, so a similar trend is likely to happen here.
Middlesbrough 1-1 Wrexham
