Chelsea at Middlesbrough score predictions: Tough away tie

Chelsea heads to the Riverside Stadium in search of coming one step closer to reaching its third consecutive FA Cup final and fifth in six years. However, standing in the way of Thomas Tuchel’s men is Chris Wilder’s stout Middlesbrough squad. The Boro have defeated Premier League heavy hitters like Manchester United and Tottenham already in this competition as they look to continue their Cinderella run. In addition to the superb FA Cup campaign, Wilder looks to guide his team back into the Premier League, as Middlesbrough currently sits in seventh, level on points with the team ahead of it. The Boro is close to reaching the Championship playoff, can it make the FA Cup semifinals too?

The Blues will look to end Middlesbrough’s magical run, but despite their good form, it won’t be an easy task by any means. The sanctions on Roman Abramovich have cast a dark cloud over the reigning Champions of Europe and taken a lot of the focus away from the on-field results. Tuchel has done an excellent job guiding the team through the storm, but the distractions are unavoidable. The uncertainty around the club has undoubtedly taken a toll on some of the players, the distractions and magic of the FA Cup could combine for disaster at the Riverside Stadium.

Here is how The Pride of London team sees the contest playing out:

Tan Yi Hao: 0-2 Chelsea

It is time to show Man United and Spurs how it is done.

Gabe Henderson: 0-2 Chelsea

The Blues take it to a hypocritical Boro side with an ugly win, but a win nonetheless.

Anthony Gatt: 1-3 Chelsea

Olaoluwa Nwobodo: 0-1 Chelsea

Chelsea faces a Middlesbrough side that has already knocked out Man United and Tottenham Hotspur. No matter what team Tuchel sends out, it will be a difficult game. A win is needed, regardless of how the Blues play.

Olly Smith: 0-3 Chelsea

I saw part of Middlesbrough’s game in the round prior, and they were as good as Spurs were apoplectically bad. The Blues won’t give them nearly the same amount of space to operate in. Goals from Hakim Ziyech, N’Golo Kante and Romelu Lukaku will seal it.

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Bo Martin: 1-2 Chelsea

Oh god, why do I somewhat hate this match-up? The Blues have really responded to the adversity facing the squad since the sanctioning of Abramovich. Unfortunately, the team has a bit of habit of playing to the level of its opponents both ways. Boro has proven to be a resilient side capable of punishing squads that overlook them. On the heals of a heavy match fixture, I’d expect a lethargic Chelsea early and quite possibly some new faces to the starting XI. It’s reasonable to expect that the Blues go down early after a slow start, but notch two in the second half after subs provide some much needed life. It’s not pretty but we move on!

Kevin Peacock: 1-3 Chelsea

There must come a point when all the off field shenanigans going on at Chelsea give the circling vultures above Stamford Bridge what they want. However, the magic of the FA Cup won’t be rocking up at the Riverside. Of late, the Blues have been mixing up the fast and slow starts. I personally don’t understand why they don’t just default to fast every time, because that seems to work. Expect Lukaku to get a run out and secure the win with a couple of goals.

Barrett Rouen: 0-4 Chelsea

I miss Middlesbrough as a Premier League club. I also think Wilder is a very good manager. I also hope we hammer the Boro on Saturday because even though it was beyond obtuse for us to ask for the match to be played behind closed doors, they’ve still been publicly jerks about a lot of stuff in recent weeks. Though my long-term sentiments about the Northeastern club remain unchanged and Juninho was one of the most romantic earlier Premier League stories, I’m very Chelsea back up against the wall emotionally right now. I don’t think it will go down the way I want it to BUT I’m allowing myself to be emotional right now.

What is your score prediction for the contest? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!