Middlesbrough close their 2020-21 Championship season with a home game against the relegation-threatened Wycombe Wanderers at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.
Boro are 10th in the league standings with 64 points heading into the final matchday. Despite their recent inconsistent displays, they are set to end up much higher than their last season's 17th-placed finish.
The Northeastern outfit might finish even higher with a victory over the Chairboys, provided QPR, who sit above them, drop points against Luton Town.
Wycombe's fate is more or less sealed going into the final day and will most probably go down irrespective of the result. A 1-0 win over Bournemouth last weekend gave them a lifeline. But even if they manage to pick up all three points against Middlesbrough, they will have to do so by virtue of an 11-0 scoreline. They will also need Sheffield Wednesday and Rotherham United to lose their respective matches.
A highly unlikely prospect.
Middlesbrough vs Wycombe Wanderers Head-To-Head
Middlesbrough are unbeaten against Wycombe Wanderers in their previous five clashes, winning thrice.
Their earlier game this season ended in a 3-1 victory for Boro when the two sides met in January 2021.
Middlesbrough Form Guide (all competitions): D-W-W-L-L
Wycombe Wanderers Form Guide (all competitions): W-L-W-D-L
Middlesbrough vs Wycombe Wanderers Team News
Middlesbrough
Darnell Fisher, Samy Morsy, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Dael Fry and Marcus Tavernier are all injured, while Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher have already left the club due to the early expiration of their contracts.
Neil Warnock has been left with few options and had to call up academy players to occupy the bench.
With a higher-placed finish up for grabs, the Boro boss might field the same lineup from last weekend's game against Luton.
Injured: Darnell Fisher, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Samy Morsy, Dael Fry, Marcus Tavernier
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher
Wycombe Wanderers
The Chairboys have a clean bill of health going into the game and Gareth Ainsworth might be tempted to play in the same lineup that beat Bournemouth, despite Josh Knight and Ryan Tafazolli pushing for starts.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Middlesbrough vs Wycombe Wanderers Predicted XI
Middlesbrough (3-4-3): Jordan Archer; Paddy McNair, Grant Hall, Marc Bola; Neeskens Kebano, George Saville, Jonathan Howson, Marvin Johnson; Duncan Watmore, Chuba Akpom, Yannick Bolasie.
Wycombe Wanderers (3-4-3): David Stockdale; Josh Knight, Anthony Stewart, Joe Jacobson; Jason McCarthy, Dennis Adeniran, Curtis Thompson, Fred Onyedinma; Garath McCleary; Admiral Muskwe, Uche Ikpeazu.
Middlesbrough vs Wycombe Wanderers Prediction
Wycombe are desperately looking to survive, but current odds are heavily stacked against them making it this year.
Middlesbrough have never been beaten by Wycombe, but can expect a strong challenge in this match.
We're predicting an entertaining draw here.
Prediction: Middlesbrough 2-2 Wycombe Wanderers