Cardiff head to Riverside chasing a result Middlesbrough have denied them in five meetings

Cardiff travel to the Riverside on Saturday still searching for their first away win of the season. They sit 19th of 24 clubs with 10 points from 10 games, and their road record makes grim reading: four defeats and a draw from five trips.

Cardiff’s road struggles

Cardiff’s problems stretch beyond one bad run. Their five away matches have produced one point, and they have scored only four goals on their travels. Their last five games have brought two wins, two defeats and a draw, enough to keep them in contention for little more than damage limitation.

Middlesbrough’s Riverside form

Middlesbrough are second in the table with 21 points and a goal difference of +6, and they have been at their most convincing at home. In five home league matches they have won four and drawn one, without a single defeat, scoring 12 times. Across their last five games overall, they have scored 12 and conceded nine, and their recent sequence reads WWDDW.

Five meetings, no Cardiff win

The head-to-head story is one-sided. Middlesbrough have not lost to Cardiff in any of their last five Championship meetings, winning four and drawing one. They have won all three of their trips to Cardiff, beating them 1-3, 1-4 and 2-0 away from home. The only blemish was a 1-1 draw at the Riverside in January 2025, and the most recent meeting before that, a 2-0 Riverside win in October 2023, set the tone. Middlesbrough have scored 12 goals across those five games and conceded only three.

Injury and suspension news

Middlesbrough will be without A. Jones, who is out with a calf injury, while R. Pukstas and D. Strelec are also unavailable.

Cardiff have a bigger list of absentees. K. Bielik is suspended and C. Chambers is out with a knee injury. R. Colwill is a doubt because of health problems, and Y. Salech is also in doubt.

Our prediction

Middlesbrough 2-0 Cardiff

Middlesbrough’s home record and their dominance over Cardiff in recent meetings suggest a comfortable afternoon for the hosts. Cardiff have struggled to score on the road and face a squad with several key absences, so they are unlikely to trouble the home defence often. Middlesbrough should have enough quality to extend their unbeaten run against Cardiff.