Middlesbrough vs West Ham United. Premier League.
Riverside StadiumAttendance30,848.
Saturday 21 January 2017 17:00, UK
Middlesbrough could hand Patrick Bamford his second debut when they host West Ham United on Saturday.
Boro, who have the fourth best defence in the Premier League but have scored just 17 goals - a league low - have struggled to find the balance between attack and defence.
However, they are four points above the relegation zone and have won three of their last six home Premier League matches.
West Ham, who are in the midst of a transfer saga involving Dimitri Payet, are 10 points worse off than at this stage last season.
Slaven Bilic's side were dropping towards the bottom three after a run of three straight league defeats, but last weekend's 3-0 win over Crystal Palace has eased some of the pressure on the former Croatia boss.
Team news
Bamford, who scored 19 times in 44 appearances on loan for the club during the 2014-15 season, has played little football in the last 18 months after making temporary moves to Crystal Palace, Norwich and Burnley and is likely to be involved only as a substitute.
Daniel Ayala sits out the second game of his three-match ban, while fellow defender Antonio Barragan (hamstring) and midfielder Gaston Ramirez (knee) remain on the sidelines.
West Ham striker Andy Carroll hopes to shake off a neck injury in time to make the trip.
Defenders Winston Reid and Sam Byram and winger Sofiane Feghouli have also sat out training this week with knocks, but Bilic expects all four players to be available.
Payet will not be in the squad as he is reportedly linked with a move to Marseille.
Opta stats
Boro are winless in their last eight league meetings with West Ham (D3 L5), including two games in the Championship in 2011-12.
West Ham have only won one of their 11 Premier League trips to the Riverside Stadium (D2 L8), winning 2-1 in December 2007.
Middlesbrough have never failed to score in any of their 11 Premier League home games against West Ham.
In fact, Middlesbrough are the only side West Ham have visited at least 10 times without keeping a clean sheet in the Premier League.
The Hammers have won four of their last six Premier League games, as many as they had in their previous 18 matches.
Merson's prediction
For 70 minutes against Palace, West Ham weren't very good. Then they got the first goal and the confidence flooded back into Bilic's side. However, Boro are very tight at home and don't let in a lot of goals. They are very hard to beat in front of their own fans.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-0 (11/2 with Sky Bet)
Betting
Middlesbrough are 11/8 favourites as they play host to West Ham on Saturday. The visiting Hammers are 21/10 for the victory, while Sky Bet offer 11/5 against the draw. Boro are 11/2 to pick up their second 1-0 victory of the season, while the correct score betting is topped by 1-1 at 9/2.
The hosts' Alvaro Negredo heads the first goalscorer odds at 5/1 and he's closely followed in the betting by team-mate Rudy Gestede and West Ham's Carroll, who are both 11/2.
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