Manchester City are still holding on to first place in the Premier League, but only by a narrow margin. They need to start racking up wins now that they seem to have moved past their recent spell of poor form, and hosting a scuffling Middlesbrough side might be just the ticket to start on that path.
Manchester City vs. Middlesbrough 2016: Start time, live stream, TV schedule, and 3 things to know
Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are coming off a huge win in the Champions League, but now they need to rack up more EPL wins.
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Middlesbrough have been in a long rut of bad form, with their win last weekend over Bournemouth their only win in the last two months. They have the potential to be better than their 15th place standing in the EPL, but they’re hitting the point of the season where they need to start proving it — and proving they belong at all. They’re just three points over the relegation zone, and they need to start getting any points they can to stay clear of it.
TV: NBCSN (U.S. - English), NBC Universo (U.S. - Spanish)
Online streaming: NBC Sports Live (U.S.)
Match Date/Time: Saturday, 11 a.m. ET, 3 p.m. local
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England
Three big things to know
- Sergio Aguero is in red-hot form right now, going from seeming like he’s in Pep Guardiola’s doghouse a few weeks ago to scoring a brace last weekend and starring in City’s huge win over Barcelona in the Champions League. He’s got his confidence back and it’s coming out in the form of some spectacular creative play, taking even an excellent defense like Barcelona’s and spinning it in circles to open up chances for his team. If he plays like that again in this match, Middlesbrough stand little chance of victory.
- Middlesbrough still need Viktor Fischer to step up, with the young Danish attacker still yet to score a goal since joining them this summer. It’s not as though his form is entirely bad — he’s scored twice for Denmark in international matches in the last two months — but something clearly isn’t clicking for the talented attacker with Middlesbrough. Unfortunately, until they figure things out their attack is going to be deeply lacking in potential quality, because no one else in the final third can do the things Fischer can for Middlesbrough.
- Of course, Manchester City need to keep focused if they’re going to win this match. Part of their recent struggles were due to injuries, to be sure, but they also came down to City not taking their opponents seriously enough. Middlesbrough are definitely a team that an opponent on the level of Manchester City might take for granted. Now, they don’t represent quite the same threat to catch City out because of that, but we’ve seen time and again over the years that any minnow can beat a titan of the game if the chance is right and the bigger team’s attention slips. If City want to stay atop the table, they can’t afford any slip ups.
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