Middlesbrough vs Wrexham Predictions

• Wrexham won only nine of their 23 Championship away games last season
• Both teams score in the meetings between these teams last term
• Middlesbrough lost only five of 23 home second-tier games last season

Boro set to progress

Middlesbrough will hope to build on a campaign which saw them finish fifth in the Championship last season, but before the second tier gets under way Boro host Wrexham in the first round of the EFL Cup on Friday night. 

Manager Kim Hellberg lost Hayden Hackney to Everton in the summer, but the funds have been used to bring forwards Will Lankshear and Kyle Joseph to the Riverside and Boro will hope that more attacking output can push them to promotion. 

Middlesbrough scored 72 goals in 46 regular season games in the Championship last term, but 14 of those matches were drawn and Hellberg’s men lacked a reliable source of goals to change contests in their favour. 

Boro suffered a disastrous 4-0 loss to Doncaster at the Riverside in the first round of the EFL Cup last season and Teessiders will hope to avoid a repeat defeat against Wrexham. 

The Reds have been quiet in the transfer market, with full-back Danny Imray the only major arrival, and while there are likely to be more additions before the window closes, Phil Parkinson’s men may be a little short for this EFL Cup tie. 

Wrexham conceded 65 goals in 46 Championship matches last season, which was more than relegated Oxford and they could be vulnerable at the Riverside. 

Last season’s second-tier contest on Teesside finished in a 1-1 draw, but Boro dominated that tie and they can be fancied for this EFL Cup contest.