Middlesbrough endured a tough start to the season but prior to the international break, they started to make swift progress up the league.
Middlesbrough started their campaign without a win in seven, leaving them in the lower reaches of the Championship table. However, after putting together a run of four straight league wins, Michael Carrick’s side now sit in 16th.
Boro still have a long way to go if they’re to reach the heights many predicted of them prior to the start of the season. But, it seems the revamped squad is really starting to gel and with a 4-0 win against Sunderland before the break, they looked back to their best.
Middlesbrough in the Opta Power Rankings
Before we get into Middlesbrough’s position, the Opta Power Rankings are described as a ‘global ranking system’, putting 13,000 domestic teams into a giant table based on factors on and off the pitch.
For context, the current no.1 is treble winners Manchester City, who boast a rating of 100%. Real Madrid are in 2nd behind them but have a score of 96%.
Middlesbrough find themselves in a highly-respectable 132nd place with an overall score of 80.3%. That puts them behind only two other Championship teams: Leicester City and Sunderland, though the latter have the exact same score. Interestingly, Boro are ahead of high-flying Ipswich Town, who have a score of 79.7% and a rank of 151st despite their fantastic start.
On the global scale, Middlesbrough are narrowly ahead of teams like Granada, Rangers and Botafogo and sit just behind top-flight European teams such as FC Koln, RC Strasbourg and Hellas Verona.
On the way up?
Middlesbrough’s impressive run before the break has certainly eased some of the concerns among supporters on Teesside. However, both Carrick and his squad will know they’re still some way off there they want to be in terms of their league position.
The tightly-packed nature of the Championship table means they could make some swift progress up the leagues in the weeks after the break though.
First up for Boro after the international fixtures is a home clash with Birmingham City, where new boss Wayne Rooney will be debuting in the away dugout.
Data estimates how much Middlesbrough talent Hayden Hackney is worth
