Middlesbrough travel to play-off rivals Hull City this evening.
Michael Carrick‘s side still have slim aspirations of finishing inside the top six as they look to surmount a seven-point gap on sixth-placed Norwich City, who have played a game more.
They probably need to win each of their remaining five games, which would move them to 76 points, one better than last season’s total.
They’ll be up against it tonight, as they face a Hull side also gunning for a playoff spot. Liam Rosenior has a plethora of talented players at his disposal that can cause any team in this division a real problem.
With that said, here’s how Carrick can stop one of their ‘outstanding’ stars.
Michael Carrick must devise a plan to stop Fabio Carvalho
When Hull announced the signing of Fabio Carvalho in January, fans around the Championship couldn’t quite believe it.
The Liverpool loanee is widely regarded as one of the best young talents in the Premier League, so to drop down a level was pretty unexpected.
He’s netted seven times in 14 Championship outings and registered a brace during a 3-1 win at Cardiff City last weekend.
So clearly he’s the main danger man and Carrick must devise a plan to stifle his creativity, or else his side could encounter a number of problems.
One way of doing that would be to man-mark him. It’s a tactic rarely used in the modern game but if applied correctly, can still be effective.
Whenever Carvalho receives the ball, Boro players need to close him down in a hurry before he can get his head up.
It can’t be a one-man job this evening, Carrick needs to pass that instruction on to all of his players. It’ll be a collective effort to stop the 2002-born playmaker.
Middlesbrough have their own threat
Whilst it’s vitally important that they pay close attention to Carvalho, they must also recognise their own threat.
With the midfield energy of Lewis O’Brien and Hayden Hackney, who could return to the starting line-up, Middlesbrough are well set up to transition quickly.
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Hull, as they so often do, are expected to control possession, so that could leave Boro with a chance to hit them on the break.
With the aforementioned pair more than capable of driving them up the pitch, Emmanuel Latte Lath needs to be clever in his movement, as space may be left in behind.
The 25-year-old hotshot has struck five goals in his last seven games, so he’ll be confident of adding to that tally this evening.
An intriguing six-pointer awaits.