Fulham v Middlesbrough Betting Tips [8 August 2021]

Fulham’s yoyo status continues as they find themselves back in the Championship following relegation from the Premier League last term. The Cottagers finished 18th under Scott Parker having been promoted via the play-offs the season previous but Parker has since moved on with Marco Silva now in the hotseat. That’s right the former Everton, Watford and Hull City manager is now in charge with Parker having left for promotion rivals Bournemouth. Fulham will have to deal with the departures of goalkeeper Alphonse Areola and defender Joachim Andersen who impressed while on loan last season but they can call upon ex-Spurs keeper Paulo Gazzaniga between the sticks and winger Harry Wilson brings another dimension to their attack. Fulham’s home form was crucial to their promotion run back in 2019/20 and they will be hoping for a winning start here. The hosts finished 4th that season and only winners Leeds attained more points than they did at home with Fulham winning 15 of their 23 matches at Craven Cottage.  

However, they have a tricky hurdle to get over on the opening weekend as the evergreen Neil Warnock brings his Middlesbrough side to West London. Warnock took over at Boro with eight games to play in the 19/20 season and with the club just lingering above the relegation zone on goal differences. They went on to survive comfortably and last season he led the club to a 10th place finish. The visitors finished 13 points off the top-six and perhaps an improvement on their away form will go a long way in bridging that gap. Boro won just seven of their 23 games away from home last year losing 10 but Warnock has led four teams to the promised land before and upsetting one of the promotion favourites could set his side up for a charge of their own.