Middlesbrough and Swansea City kick off their 2025-26 Championship campaigns with a matchup at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday 9th August at 3pm. Both sides missed out on the play-offs last season, but they weren’t too far off. This game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports+.
Tommy Conway to Score (2/1 with Spreadex)
Tommy Conway finished last season as Middlesbrough’s top scorer in the Championship. The Scot bagged an impressive 13 goals in just 27 starts for the club, and he will be a key figure if Rob Edwards’ side are to have a successful campaign this time round. The 23-year-old grabbed a brace against Deportivo La Coruna in his side’s final warm-up fixture and looks raring to go for the new season.
Middlesbrough to win (86/100 with 10bet)
Middlesbrough turned the Riverside into a fortress last season, winning four of their final six home league games. Swansea, on the other hand, struggled badly on the road, losing seven of their last 12 away matches in 2024-25. History is firmly on Boro’s side too, with five wins from the last six encounters and a perfect record in the last five meetings on Teesside. Even pre-season points their way: while Boro have been grinding out draws, Swansea have stumbled to three straight defeats.
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How both teams go into Middlesbrough vs Swansea
Middlesbrough looked to be on their way to securing a play-off spot at the end of last season. But a poor run to the campaign saw them slip away. Boro ended the campaign with just one win from their final six, losing four. As a result, they finished four points outside the play-offs, down in 10th.
Middlesbrough have looked to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Michael Carrick has been replaced by Rob Edwards, who had been out of a club since leaving Luton Town in January. Middlesbrough will be hoping Edwards has a similar campaign to 2022-23 with Luton, rather than 2024-25.
Swansea were the opposite to Middlesbrough. Although they finished just seven points outside the play-offs, the Swans weren’t fully involved in the conversation. Instead, they dragged themselves up the table thanks to a strong run to end the campaign. That run included six consecutive wins and five clean sheets in a row.
This will be the first full season under Alan Sheehan, who came in to change Swansea’s fortunes in February. The goal will be to make Swansea genuine play-off contenders once again, something they haven’t been since 2020-21.
Middlesbrough team news
Darragh Lenihan should be available for Middlesbrough, having missed the entirety of last season through injury. The Irish defender has been playing in pre-season, but his return will be managed. Alex Bangura is also back after an ACL injury.
Swansea team news
Swansea look set to have no injury issues and have signed five new players to bolster their squad.
Middlesbrough vs Swansea head-to-head
Swansea won the last meeting between these two sides in March. But that ended a run of seven matches against Middlesbrough without victory, including six Boro wins.
| Date | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| 08/03/25 | Swansea 1-0 Middlesbrough | Championship |
| 10/08/24 | Middlesbrough 1-0 Swansea | Championship |
| 06/04/24 | Middlesbrough 2-0 Swansea | Championship |
| 16/12/23 | Swansea 1-2 Middlesbrough | Championship |
| 11/03/23 | Swansea 1-3 Middlesbrough | Championship |