One of the form sides in the Championship, Middlesbrough will aim to bag a notable Premier League scalp on Wednesday night when they host Crystal Palace at the Riverside Stadium in what is a fascinating Carabao Cup fourth round clash.
A sensational defensive record in the second tier (conceded 8 goals in 15 matches) has helped launch Boro within two points of the leaders Sheffield United, and they will be hoping to shut out a Palace side this evening that are struggling in the Premier League, and have a shoddy scoring record themselves (scored 7 in 10 Premier League matches).
Boro boss Tony Pulis has come in for praise during his time at the north east club, and will be eager to maintain his side's fine form, and duly mastermind a win over a Palace side he managed between 2013 and 2014.
Pulis may get criticism for his style of play at times, but the veteran manager has a sensational record when coming up against former clubs, and this statistics will be music to the Boro fans ears, as they look to book their quarter-final spot in the Carabao Cup this evening.
In the 66 games Pulis has faced up against former employers, he has won 36 of them, drawing 14 and only losing 16 of that multitude of games.
In particular his record against Palace is a decent one having won eight of his previous 15 ties with the Eagles, and has only amassed six defeats, so the Welshman will be hoping to extend that excellent record on Wednesday night and dish out more agony for Palace boss Roy Hodgson, who is struggling to gain any sort of consistency at Selhurst Park.
Palace fans will head north with trepidation as they will have harrowing memories of last season's fourth round exit from the Carabao Cup, where a second-string Eagles side were thrashed 4-1 by Championship club Bristol City, and with Hodgson set to ring the changes again then it would be no surprise to see Pulis extend his fine record over Palace, who will find it tough to break down a solid-looking Boro at the Riverside Stadium.