Defence remains Karanka’s focus

Boro wasted several openings in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Southampton but Karanka continues to be more focused on the defensive side of the game as he attempts to keep his side in the top-flight following last term’s promotion.

Middlesbrough have struggled for goals all season and their current tally of 13 is the worst in the Premier League. However, they have only conceded 16 times and only Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham have a better defensive record.

Karanka’s side are 16th in the table after the 15th round of fixtures and they are 9/2 to be relegated this term.

They face Liverpool on Wednesday in their next match and can be backed at 16/1 to secure a shock 1-0 win against Jurgen Klopp’s team while Jordan Rhodes is 11/4 to score at any time in the clash.

„I think we didn’t score our chances and we were punished,“ Karanka said after the narrow defeat at St Mary’s. „We did almost everything right in the game.

„Working in the way we are working, we had chances to score, but it is the Premier League and you have to take them.

„We are improving as a team, we are growing and gaining experience. If we keep this consistency, especially in defence, we will get points. We couldn’t add any points but on Wednesday we have another amazing game against Liverpool so we keep going.“