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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Sheffield Wednesday were in Carabao Cup action in midweek, but it’s a return to the Championship on Saturday afternoon as they travel to the north-east to face Middlesbrough.
The Owls were defeated on Tuesday night as Marco Silva’s strong Everton side ran out 2-0 winners.
Aside from that, Garry Monk remains unbeaten in his two league matches as their new manager and now comes up against one of his former clubs.
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Meanwhile, Boro have been struggling after picking up just two wins in eight matches, leaving them languishing in the bottom-half in 15th.
There is one considerable area of weakness Wednesday can exploit as a result of their misfortune.
On the Chalkboard
Jonathan Woodgate’s side have been without one important figure, their long-serving captain George Friend.
Their former defender has already ruled the 31-year-old out of action for this game, so Monk should fully be aware of the situation and should be planning to make them pay for releasing such information.
The left-back has played 286 times for Boro but has only managed to feature in one Championship match this term.
It was a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers with Friend still scoring a WhoScored rating of 7.37.
During that game he showed his importance by making four tackles and four clearances. He was also fouled three times and was able to complete a key pass.
His absence from the side will, therefore, surely be felt at the Riverside Stadium this weekend.
Friend showed what a presence he can be on the flanks but Wednesday have a couple of wingers they can call on to cause problems, including Adam Reach and Kadeem Harris.
They have scored two goals and assisted two more between them this season, per WhoScored.
They will be looking to get at a flank that Boro have been lacking quality in when Friend has been absent.
Marc Bola has featured four times at left-back and only achieved an average rating of 6.59. Wednesday simply have to exploit this.
