Saturday’s early kick off in the Championship between Middlesbrough and Birmingham City will see the much-loved former Boro boss, Aitor Karanka, return to the Riverside Stadium for the first time since being appointed as the Blues manager.
Last time out, Middlesbrough lost 2-1 to Brentford in the FA Cup, with Sam Foralin’s goal being sandwiched between Halil Dervisoglu and Saman Ghoddos goals.
Birmingham City lost 3-0 last time out to Manchester City, with Bernardo Silva (twice) and Phil Foden on the scoresheet.
Boro and Birmingham met last month in the league, with Middlesbrough coming out on top despite going a goal down.
Goals from Britt Assombalonga, George Saville and two from Lewis Wing emphatically won the Teessiders the points.
Marcus Browne will not be available for selection after being stretched off in the Boro's FA Cup loss.
Meanwhile, Ashley Fletcher is nearing a return and has an outside shot of featuring in this one, though it is likely that this match has come a bit too soon for the former West Ham marksman.
Middlesbrough have lost one of their last 20 home games against Birmingham in all competitions (W12 D7).
Neil Warnock has won his last three league matches against Birmingham City, as many as he had in his previous 18 against the Blues (D5 L10) between 1992 and 2017.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Huddersfield Town face a tricky away fixture against Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday.
The Terriers lost 2-3 last time out to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup, despite goals from Romoney Critchlow and Aaron Rowe, whilst Watford lost 1-0 to Manchester United at the weekend.
These two sides met last month at the John Smith’s Stadium, with the hosts winning 2-0 with a goal from Fraizer Campbell and an own goal from Etienne Capoue.
Huddersfield’s last away Championship visit to Watford was in August 2014, losing 4-2.
The Terriers have won just two points in their last six away league matches (D2 L4), scoring just once in their last five on the road.
Isaac Mbenza has assisted three goals in his last four league appearances – as many as he managed in his first 45 appearances for the Terriers.
In the Premier League, Leeds United will take on Brighton and Hove Albion at Elland Road on Saturday.
The Whites were stunned last time out, losing 3-0 in the FA Cup to Crawley Town, whilst Brighton snuck through on penalties against Newport County before losing 1-0 on Tuesday to Manchester City.
Kalvin Phillips is suspended after receiving his fifth yellow card of the Premier League season against Spurs, which should see Mateusz Klich drop deeper in midfield.
Diego Llorente is hoping to be fit enough to make the squad, but Robin Koch, Gaetano Berardi, Tyle Roberts and Adam Forshaw sit this one out.
This is the first top-flight meeting between Leeds and Brighton since May 1982, a 2-1 victory for Leeds at Elland Road. Leeds have never lost at home against Brighton in the top-flight (P3 W2 D1).
Leeds United have lost seven of their last nine league matches against Brighton (W2), though the Whites won 2-0 the last time the sides met in March 2017 courtesy of a Chris Wood brace.
The Whites have lost their first two matches in 2021 in all competitions, both 3-0 defeats, last losing their first three matches in a year back in 2014 under Brian McDermott, when they lost their first four.
Hull City will host Blackpool at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday as the Tigers look to close the gab on the top spot in League One.
Last time out, the Tigers came back from two goals down to win 3-2 in the Papa John’s Trophy against Fleetwood Town with goals from, Malik Wilks, Keane Lewis-Potter and Lewie Coyle.
Blackpool managed to beat West Bromwich Albion on penalties after a 2-2 draw at Bloomfield Road in the FA Cup last weekend to set up a tie with Brighton and Hove Albion.
Tigers Goalkeeper, Matt Ingram, returned from his self-isolation period to start against Fleetwood on Tuesday and should keep his place here.
Callum Jones, Jordy de Wijs and Martin Samuelson could all continue to miss out for second-place City.
Hull City are winless in their last eight matches against Blackpool in all competitions (D3 L5).
Since a four-game winning streak between November and December, Hull have won just one of their following six league games (D2 L3).
In League Two, Bradford City and Harrogate Town will host Crawley Town and Exeter City, respectively.
The Bantams will be hoping to finally kickstart their 2021 campaign after having their last few games postponed.
As mentioned, Crawley Town picked up a famous victory last weekend, beating Leeds United 3-0 with goals from Nick Tsaroulla, Ashley Nadeson and Jordan Tunnicliffe.
Bradford are winless in their last two league games against Crawley (D1 L1), after winning their previous four in a row.
Crawley have lost their last three league visits to Bradford, with their only away league victory against the Bantams coming in March 2012 (1-2).
Bradford City are unbeaten in five league games (W3 D2), keeping a clean sheet in both of their last two.
The last time they kept three consecutive league shutouts was in January 2020.
As for the Sulphurites, they lost 2-1 last time out to Cambridge United, despite taking the lead through Jack Muldoon.
After being knocked out of the FA Cup last weekend to Sheffield Wednesday, Exeter City drew 1-1 to Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night.
This will be just the second EFL encounter between Harrogate and Exeter, with the Sulphurites wining the reverse fixture back in December 2020 (2-1).
Exeter have won just one of their last seven league visits to Yorkshire (D2 L4), a 3-1 victory against Doncaster in April 2017.
Harrogate have picked up fewer points at home than any other side in League Two this season (six), winning just one of their nine league matches on home soil (D3 L5).
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