A place in the quarterfinals is the prize as Middlesbrough travel to League One side Exeter City for a Carabao Cup Round of 16 clash on Tuesday. The hosts have been abysmal lately and should be no match for the superior quality of Boro.
Exeter City did some giant killing in the previous round to secure their place in the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup. They claimed a 1-0 victory over Premier League side Luton Town with Demetri Mitchell’s effort seven minutes from time proving to be the difference.
The Carabao Cup has been a great refuge for Exeter City, who have found things generally difficult this season. That victory over Luton Town is their only win in the last 10 matches across all competitions having suffered eight defeats in that run.
There has been very little home comfort for Exeter City, who are winless in their last five matches at St James Park. Gary Caldwell’s men have been beaten four times in that run, although they did fight back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw with Lincoln City in a League One clash last Saturday.
Middlesbrough travel to Exeter City off the back of a 2-0 home defeat to Stoke City in a Championship fixture on Saturday. They went into the break two goals down and despite edging the possession, lacked the cutting edge in attack to fight back.
Manager Michael Carrick would have been disappointed with the result as it ended a run of seven straight wins across all competitions for Middlesbrough. A 2-0 victory at Bradford City in the previous round of the Carabao Cup was among their results that run and they will be keen to get back to winning ways on Tuesday.
One positive for Middlesbrough is that they have done some of their best work on the road in recent weeks, winning their last four matches across all competitions. However, they are often unconvincing at the back and have conceded in two of their last three matches on the road.
How the bookies view it
The bookies have installed Middlesbrough as overwhelming favourites and they are priced at 17/20 by Unibet. Exeter City are considered outsiders with a home win valued at 14/5 by Paddy Power while a draw is also set at odds of 14/5 by William Hill.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between Exeter City and Middlesbrough.
Players to watch
Exeter City will be keen to capitalise on Middlesbrough’s unconvincing defence and will look to James Scott to provide the spark. The attacker already has a goal in the Carabao Cup and could be tipped to find the net on Tuesday at 15/4 by bet365.
Middlesbrough have multiple attacking threats and have been prolific in the Carabao Cup this season. Emmanuel Latte Lath had caught the eye lately and having been on target in the win over Bradford City in the previous round, could be backed to score anytime on Tuesday at 6/4 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Middlesbrough have seen over 3.5 goals in two of their three Carabao Cup matches this season and could be set for a repeat at 15/8 by Paddy Power. Over 2.5 goals could also be considered at 8/11 with Betfred while William Hill is offering odds of 8/13 on both teams to score.
Boro have scored in both halves in all three of their Carabao Cup matches this season and Tuesday’s clash could be set to follow a similar pattern at 17/10 with Unibet.
This EFL Cup match between Exeter City and Middlesbrough will be played on Oct 31, 2023 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Exeter City vs Middlesbrough prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
