After the uneventful first leg, Middlesbrough welcome Coventry to the Riverside Stadium for the second Championship playoff semifinals showdown on Wednesday night. The two Premier League hopefuls played a 0-0 draw at the Coventry Building Society Arena on Sunday. Both teams already met in the Championship league game in the final match of the campaign before the first playoff game. That game also ended in a 1-1 draw. So, in the space of nine days, the teams are about to meet each other for the third time. With the first two games ending in a draw, something has got to give in this third game. I know, it is a cliché. I will be expecting Middlesbrough to get a win from this encounter for the following reasons:

Firstly. Middlesbrough have a good home record since at least the turn of the year, and have had good home record against their opponents. They have won eight and drawn two of their last 11 home games. And, they have remained unbeaten in their last 13 home games against Coventry, winning nine of them. The home advantage makes them favorite to win this return leg. They have also been very prolific in front of the goal at their home ground. Since the arrival of Michael Carrick as their coach, they have had a boost, particularly in attack. They have scored in all 15 of their home games in all competitions, scoring a total of 37 goals.

Secondly. Middlesbrough have been having a little tough patch recently. But, I expect their attack, which ranked second best in the league with 84 goals in 46 games, to click and deliver tonight. They are also boosted by the return of two of their key players, Dael Fry and Marcus Forss, to the matchday squad. Meanwhile, Coventry will be without a number of their players due to injury. O'Hare, Fabio Tavares, and Kasey Palmer are all set to miss the game. Gustavo Hamer will most likely also miss the game due to knock to the knee he got in the first leg.

For the above reasons, I expect Coventry to find it tough in front of the raucous Riverside atmosphere, where the home side have been scoring for fun throughout the season. I will be putting my money on Middlesbrough to come away with the win tonight.

在平淡无奇的首回合比赛之后，米德尔斯堡将在周三晚上欢迎考文垂来到河滨体育场进行第二场英冠半决赛的对决。周日，这两支英超强队在考文垂建房协会球场0-0打平。这两支球队已经在第一场季后赛前的冠军杯最后一场比赛中相遇。那场比赛也是1比1战平。所以，在九天的时间里，两支球队将会第三次碰面。由于前两场比赛都以平局告终，第三场比赛肯定会有一些事情发生。我知道，这是陈词滥调。我希望米德尔斯堡能在这场比赛中获胜，原因如下:

首先。米德尔斯堡至少从今年开始就有了良好的主场战绩，并且在主场对阵对手的比赛中也有良好的战绩。在最近的11场主场比赛中，他们取得了8胜2平的成绩。而且，他们在最近13场主场对阵考文垂的比赛中保持不败，其中9场获胜。主场优势使他们最有希望赢得这轮比赛。在他们的主场，他们在进球前也非常多产。自从迈克尔·卡里克成为他们的教练后，他们得到了提升，尤其是在进攻端。他们在所有比赛的15场主场比赛中都有进球，总共打进37球。

其次。米德尔斯堡最近有点困难。但是，我希望他们的进攻，在46场比赛中以84个进球排名联赛第二，在今晚点击并交付。他们的两名主力球员，弗莱和福斯，也在比赛日的大名单中回归，这也给他们带来了鼓舞。与此同时，考文垂队将因伤失去一些球员。奥黑尔、法比奥·塔瓦雷斯和凯西·帕尔默都将缺席比赛。古斯塔沃·哈默尔很可能也会缺席比赛，因为他在第一回合的比赛中磕到了膝盖。

基于以上原因，我认为考文垂在喧闹的河滨球场会很艰难，因为主队整个赛季都在为乐趣而进球。我将把我的钱押在米德尔斯堡队今晚的胜利上。