Match Previews

Emirates FA Cup preview: Welbeck returns for Middlesbrough

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We head to the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

By Charlie Hanson • 06 January 2023

By Paul Hazlewood
Danny Welbeck will be back in the squad for the trip to Middlesbrough.

Albion begin their journey in this season’s Emirates FA Cup on Saturday when they head to Middlesbrough.

We reached the fourth round of the competition last season after beating West Bromwich Albion 2-1 before suffering a 3-1 defeat to Tottenham.

Boro reached the quarter-finals, beating Manchester United on penalties before seeing off Spurs in the fifth round. Their fine run was brought to an end by Chelsea, who won 2-0 at the Riverside.

Former United and England midfielder Michael Carrick took over as Boro boss from Chris Wilder in late October and has seen his side embark on a terrific run in the Championship. They have won seven of their last nine league games and have climbed to fifth in the table, although they did lose to League One Barnsley 1-0 at home in the Carabao Cup back in August.

Team news

Speaking ahead of the game, Roberto De Zerbi said that Danny Welbeck is fit and will be in the squad. Deniz Undav is also available after missing the last two games to offer another option up front but Adam Webster is still out. De Zerbi hinted that it will be a strong squad heading north. "I have the Charlton experience in my head, it's an important game for us."

Previous meetings

We last met Boro, also in the FA Cup, five years ago when Glenn Murray fired home in the 90th minute to secure a 1-0 victory in a fourth round tie. Of the squad used that day only Lewis Dunk and Pascal Gross are still at the club.

The only previous FA Cup meeting between the clubs took place back in 1906, when Middlesbrough won 3-1 after two 1-1 draws. Our FA Cup victory in 2018 is one of only ten wins we have had in 47 meetings against them. Albion won twice there in 2013, 2-0 in April and 1-0 in December but they were our first wins against Middlesbrough since a 1-0 victory at the Goldstone in February 1990 when Mark Barham scored the only goal in front of just 5,504 fans.

Player to watch

By Bennett Dean
Chuba Akpom joined Albion on loan from Arsenal in 2017.

Former Albion striker Chuba Akpom is enjoying the best form of his career in front of goal. His effort in Monday’s 3-1 win at Birmingham City was his 13th of the season and ninth since the arrival of Michael Carrick. It included a hat-trick in the 4-1 victory over Wigan Athletic on Boxing Day.

Akpom was an Arsenal player when Chris Hughton signed him on loan in January 2017. He started just once, in a 1-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers during the promotion run-in, and made eight further appearances off the bench, including the 2-1 Amex victory against Wigan which clinched promotion.

The stats

  • Brighton have won three of their last five away games against Middlesbrough in all competitions (D2), with these coming between 2013 and 2018. They'd only won one of their first 19 visits against them (D6 L12).
  • Since promotion to the Premier League in 2017, Brighton have lost just one of their nine FA Cup ties against sides from a lower division, losing 1-0 to Sheffield Wednesday in the third round in 2019-20.
  • Brighton have won 11 of their last 13 FA Cup third round ties, only going out at this stage in this run in 2015-16 (against Hull) and 2019-20 (against Sheffield Wednesday).

Match officials

Referee: Simon Hooper

Assistant referees: Marc Perry & Matthew Jones

Fourth official: Robert Madden