Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka has claimed that his team are much stronger than the last time they played Everton, ahead of their Premier League clash with the Merseyside club on Saturday. Boro played Everton on September 17 and were comprehensively outplayed, losing 3-1.
He said, “We realised how difficult the Premier League was that day because we competed against Everton in the second half, but for 15 minutes in the first half, they were much better than us and we couldn’t compete.
“After that game, we’ve improved a lot. It’s difficult to score goals and create chances, but we’re improving a lot, and we’re competing against every team. We had a chance to beat Tottenham last week and we are more mature and more experienced now than then.”
Despite the admission from Karanka, Everton will be the clear favorites ahead of the game this weekend as well. They have been high on confidence and played well recently having taken 17 points out of a possible 21.
Middlesbrough on the other hand, have not enjoyed the best of lucks and are only one point clear off the relegation zone, having endured a disappointing run of seven games without a win.
If Karanka wishes to get something from the game for his team, Boro will certainly have to contain in form Everton striker Romelu Lukaku who has bagged 17 goals this season.
Karanka did admit that Lukaku will be a threat and said, “It’s difficult. We’ve played against him twice, he scored twice, in the cup and against us in the league.”
