Manchester United 1.27 v Middlesbrough 17.00; The Draw 6.20
Saturday, 15:00
Manchester United
Jose Mourinho rightfully received his fair share of criticism in the first few months of the season after a series of disappointing results. But Manchester United have slowly but surely found their form and appear to be hitting top gear heading into the second half of the campaign. Five successive wins, in all competitions, have given them real momentum and suggest they will be strong challengers for a top-four spot.
There were undoubtedly teething problems at Old Trafford with too many draws hindering their progress. But United are in full flow now having closed to within four points of fourth place. Paul Pogba has looked more at home recently in his favoured position, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been given a chance and is starting to look accomplished in the Premier League, scoring a stunning volley in the Boxing Day win over Sunderland.
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough may not be the crowd pleasers of the Premier League but Aitor Karanka's side are well on their way to maintaining their status following promotion from the Championship. Boro have proved extremely difficult to break down and have based their strength on solidity at the back. Five clean sheets and only 20 goals conceded in the league underlines their defensive qualities.
But their problems have come at the other end where Boro have struggled for goals. The side are the joint second lowest scorers in the division with only 16 goals in 18 matches. The Teesiders have found it very difficult to chase games after falling behind and their lack of potency in the final third is the reason the team are 15th and only four points above the relegation zone.
United absolutely deserve to be short-priced favourites for this match and in their current form look prime material for accumulators. But backing them at 1.27 is clearly not acceptable advice for a betting preview. In all honesty, Mourinho's side are confidently fancied to win but there are other ways of extracting some value from the hosts.
Boro are extreme outsiders to win at Old Trafford with the visitors on offer at 17.00. But even at this price there is no temptation to make an argument for them. The team lost at Burnley on Boxing Day and have not won away since beating Sunderland in August so no amount of blind optimism can justify backing Boro.
The draw is around the 6.20 mark which might have appealed some weeks back. The Red Devils drew four in a row at home earlier this season and were also held by Boro last season in the Capital One Cup. But this is a United team hitting their strides which should prove far too strong for their opponents.
One way of securing a better price on Man United is by backing the hosts to win with a clean sheet. Their defence has improved in recent weeks and keeping out toothless Boro should not be a problem. Karanka's side have failed to score in three of their last four games. With just seven goals in nine away league games, United should be able to comfortably see off their shot-shy visitors.
A key figure in United's resurgence recently has been summer signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The striker has shown no sign of being over the hill at the age of 35 during his first year in England. Ibrahimovic has scored 11 goals in his last ten appearances and the enigmatic star has to be worth consideration, even at 3/4, to continue this run.
Ref Watch
Lee Mason takes charge of this match and he has only sent off one player in ten matches this season. He was card happy in the recent game between Leicester and Middlesborough as he booked eight players.
Opta Stat
Middlesbrough have not lost their final league game of a calendar year since 2009. The visitors are available at 13/5 in the double chance market to continue this run by avoiding defeat at Old Trafford.
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