Michael Carrick and Daniel Farke disagreed last time Leeds met Middlesbrough, now they’re both desperate to be right

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We get a bunch of midweek fixtures in the Championship this week, with the pick of them being a clash between two promotion hopefuls, Middlesbrough and Leeds United.

The seasons of both sides have dovetailed quite nicely, really. Leeds United started strong, but have suffered a monumental dip in form lately that has put their whole promotion push in jeopardy.

Middlesbrough, meanwhile, had a great start to the season, lost their way around the New Year, but are now back and just as strong as ever.

While Leeds fans try to identify the problem that is holding the Whites back in the title race, Boro are now finding momentum at the right time and are looking likely candidates for a play-off berth.

• READ MORE: Sky Sports pundit makes claim involving Leeds United, Burnley, and Sheffield United to get ‘over the line’

What did Michael Carrick and Daniel Farke say last time?

Back in December, Leeds triumphed 3-1 over Boro at Elland Road, getting revenge for the Teessiders dumping them out of the Carabao Cup earlier in the campaign.

At the time, Michael Carrick believed his side were unfortunate not to get something from the game, telling Gazette Live: “I’m disappointed with the result. I thought the game was right in the balance in the second half and in some ways it was where we wanted it.

“We had a really good spell and looked and felt like we could go on and win the game. We were doing loads of good things and we’re bitterly disappointed to lose it in the end.

“They started well, and we started a bit tentatively. I’ve not watched the first goal back. At the time it felt like there were a couple of ricochets. The goals are the goals, you can always pick goals apart.

“We grew into the game and we were more positive as the game went on. We showed good quality to take control of possession and a little bit more positive pressing. We played with more belief and made it happen and that carried into the second half and I thought we were really good for the first half of it.”

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	BurnleyBurnley	40	23	15	2	55	12	43	84
2	Sheff UtdSheffield Utd	40	26	7	7	56	30	26	83
3	LeedsLeeds	40	23	13	4	79	28	51	82
4	SunderlandSunderland	40	21	12	7	57	37	20	75
5	MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough	40	17	9	14	61	49	12	60
6	Bristol CityBristol City	40	15	15	10	51	43	8	60

Clearly, Carrick didn’t feel like his side were second best, but Daniel Farke had other ideas, suggesting the win was just reward for his Leeds team after a dominant display.

He told LeedsLive: “No doubt it’s a well-deserved win in the end. I want to congratulate Boro for a good away performance. That makes our win even sweeter. We played an excellent side and deserved it. Really good first half. We wasted too many chances in the first half. It should have been 2-0 or 3-0 at half-time.

“They pushed us back in the second half and focused on the counters. There were problems in the first half when our structure against the ball was not right. But we corrected this and limited them.

“It’s an unlucky goal [we conceded], and it was difficult to turn the tide from there. Many compliments to the players. It costs a lot of energy to be proactive at 1-1, but we did this.”

• READ MORE: Leeds United supporters won’t be happy at Daniel Farke’s ‘good point’ claim against Luton Town

Both Leeds United and Middlesbrough cannot afford to lose this one

When the two sides last met in December, Middlesbrough were a lot closer to pushing for automatic promotion. Those hopes have faded away now, but they still have more than enough to play for this week.

Indeed, both sides do. While the title appeared to be wrapped up just a couple of months ago, it seems Leeds are falling apart again, with just one win in their last six after Saturday’s draw with Luton Town.

Farke’s side desperately need to get back to winning ways, and doing so away at the Riverside would be a huge statement of intent. But, as we know, getting anything away at Middlesbrough is no mean feat.

The Middlesbrough manager will be eager to protect his own interests and cement that play-off spot for his team, and denting Leeds’ hopes of automatic promotion would be a sweet side order, too.

Defeat for either side would be a disaster, but at this point, you’d have to say it’s Farke who will be sweating over that result the most right now.