Pick of the stats: Middlesbrough v Sunderland
- Published
All eyes will be on the Riverside on Monday night as Middlesbrough and Sunderland face-off in a Tees-Wear derby (20:00 GMT) which will be screened on free-to-air TV.
The Black Cats sit fourth and will be hoping to keep up the pace in the race for automatic promotion while two places but 11 points behind them, Boro will be seeking to solidify their spot in the play-offs.
Middlesbrough have lost just two of their past 27 home league games against Sunderland (W16 D9), remaining unbeaten across their last six home outings against the Black Cats.
After winning the reverse fixture 1-0 in September, Sunderland are looking to record a first league double over Middlesbrough since the 1961-62 season.
Middlesbrough have lost two of their past three league games (W1), as many as in their prior 13 league outings combined (W6 D5).
Sunderland have lost just two of their past 11 away league games (W4 D5), keeping a clean sheet in five of those matches. They will be looking to win consecutive away matches in the Championship for the first time since October, however.
Heading into this weekend, Finn Azaz has created more chances than any other player in the Championship this season (62). Indeed, only Borja Sainz (18) has been directly involved in more goals than the Boro man in the same time (17 – eight goals, nine assists)