Having improved under Chris Wilder last season, following his appointment in November, eventually climbing to a seventh-placed finish in the Championship, Middlesbrough headed into the new term with optimism and their sights set on mounting a sustained promotion push.
They have had to battle through a slow start, though, firstly drawing with West Bromwich Albion and losing away at Queens Park Rangers before dropping out of the EFL Cup following a defeat to Barnsley.
Boro then hosted Sheffield United, and, after the Blades went ahead twice through Sander Berge and a Ryan Giles own goal, they were, at least, able to salvage a point thanks to a pair of goals from Chuba Akpom, with the second equaliser coming in the 82nd minute.
Hoping to build on that with a first win, they then travelled to Stoke City and looked set to leave with a 2-1 victory, thanks to a Duncan Watmore finish and a Phil Jagielka own goal, only to be pegged back by a D’Margio Wright-
Phillipsleveller in injury time, before being beaten 1-0 away at Reading last time out as Tyrese Fornah’s first-half goal made the difference between the sides.
Now one of just two teams without a win in England’s second tier after five games, with no other side conceding as many as the nine goals they have shipped, Wilder’s men will be desperate to kickstart a turn in form on Saturday and pick up three points on home turf to avoid being left behind as the league takes shape.
They welcome a Swansea City side who will also be slightly disappointed with their start to the league campaign, having only managed five points thus far in Russell Martin’s second season at the helm.
Hoping to improve on last year’s 15th-placed finish, the Swans began with a trip to newly-promoted Rotherham United but were only able to take a point from a 1-1 draw thanks to Harry Darling’s long-range equaliser, before being thrashed 3-0 by Blackburn Rovers in their first home outing.
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On the back of a penalty shootout defeat to Oxford United in the EFL Cup first round, Martin’s side then made the trip to Blackpool and secured their first victory as Olivier Ntcham hit the only goal of the game in the dying minutes.
That was followed by a dramatic home game against Millwall, as the Welsh outfit looked set to see out a 2-0 victory through Ryan Manning and Michael Obafemi, only for their visitors to draw level deep into injury time as Ben Cabango and Nathan Wood both scored own goals.
Now on the back of a 2-0 home defeat to Luton Town, Swansea are also vying to put their tough start behind them and kick off a climb up the table with a win in what promises to be an intriguing encounter at the weekend.
