((STREAMS>)) Middlesbrough vs Port Vale Live Broadcast Free 19 December 2023 Today
Port Vale vs Middlesbrough live stream: how to watch the Carabao Cup quarter-final online. Two sides from two different tiers of English football lock horns in the EFL Cup as League One outfit Port Vale host Championship side Middlesbrough.
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Despite hovering around the middle of the League One table, Port Vale have shown signs of improvement with two back-to-back victories against Exeter City and Wigan Athletic. Alfie Devine scored the all important goal in the previous leg as they dumped Mansfield Town out of the competition.
Middlesbrough, on the other hand, are also seeded in the 13th position in the Championship table with just nine wins from their 22 games. Their wretched run of three consecutive defeats ended after the side defeated Swansea during the weekend. A late penalty from Emmanuel Latte Lath helped them overcome Exeter City in a five goal thriller in the Round of 16 of the competition.
Here, GOAL brings you everything you need to know about how to watch, including TV channel, streaming details and more.
Port Vale vs Middlesbrough kick-off time
Date: December 19, 2023
Kick-off time: 2:45 pm ET / 11:45 am PT
Venue: Vale Park
Port Vale will host Middlesbrough at the Vale Park with kick-off scheduled at 2:45 pm ET / 11:45 am PT in the US.
Dan Jones, Mitchell Clarke, and Josh Thomas remain out of contention for the EFL Cup clash for the hosts while forward James Wilson is yet to return to full fitness after being sidelined in October.
Tom Glover is touted to replace Seny Dieng between the sticks for the visitors with the latter hobbling off the pitch late in the clash against Swansea.
The other absentees include Paddy McNair, Tommy Smith, Darragh Lenihan, Hayden Hackney, Lewis O'Brien and Marcus Forss while Australian midfielder Riley McGree is yet to heal from his foot surgery.
Vale sit 15th in League One following a mixed start to the campaign, with Ben Garrity their top scorer so far with eight strikes to his name.
Middlesbrough won the League Cup in 2004, and have fought their way through the rounds of this year's competition against Championship, League One and League Two opposition.
Boss Michael Carrick will be determined to see his men advance to the showpiece semi-finals, with North East rivals Newcastle also in the quarter-finals.
Through a mixture of big teams resting first-teamers or giving youngsters a go, the Carabao Cup tends to throw up some random teams that go deep in the competition and the quarter-final clash between Port Vale and Middlesbrough is no different. In lower midtable in League One and the Championship respectively, neither side is enjoying a stellar season but a crack at a Premier League side in a marquee cup semi-final is on the line in a fascinating contest.
If last season was supposed to be one of consolation for Port Vale after promotion from the fourth tier in 2021/22, then hopes were high for improvement on last term's 18th-placed finish in League One. Yet after winning five of their first seven league games, Vale went more than two months without a League One win from mid-September to dampen expectations.
In the Carabao Cup, though, Andy Crosby's side has shone, albeit with the help of a kind draw. Since beating fellow League One club Fleetwood in the first round, they've beaten three teams (Crewe Alexandra, Sutton and Mansfield) from the division below and are now 90 minutes from a plum semi-final. This is already the furthest Vale have come in this competition, could top scorer Ben Garrity's goals take them into dreamland?
Under former Manchester United and England midfielder Michael Carrick, Middlesbrough has been playing some attractive football in the past couple of season and a run of six straight Championship wins from mid-September raised Teesside hopes of a play-off tilt back to the Premier League after 14 seasons away.
Though form has dipped since, not helped by three defeats in a row to begin December, Carabao Cup form has remain. Though three of the 2004 winners' four opponents thus far have all been from the leagues below (Bolton, Bradford and Exeter after Championship side Huddersfield in round one), Carrick and Co. has been drawn away in every game.