Matt Clarke in: The predicted Middlesbrough XI to face Swansea City on Saturday | OneFootball

FLW predicts how Boro will lineup against the Swans this weekend.

Middlesbrough kick-off their 2024/25 Championship season on Saturday afternoon, as Boro welcome Swansea City to the Riverside Stadium.

After a slow start that saw the Teessiders go winless in their opening seven games last season, Michael Carrick's side eventually kicked into gear in the second half of the season, finishing in eighth place.

Their impressive form in the final weeks of last term saw the club end the campaign playing some of the best football in the division, and after a strong summer of transfer business so far that has seen additions being made and key players retained, supporters are hopeful of a successful season in prospect.

Carrick's selection dilemmas have unfortunately eased in some respects, in no great thanks to multiple injury setbacks - a trend Boro became familiar with last season - on the eve of the new campaign.

Left-back Alex Bangura has undergone an operation on his Achilles and will be sidelined for some time, whilst Tommy Smith and forward Marcus Forss will also miss the start of the season.

Dael Fry played no part in Boro's final pre-season fixture against Heerenveen, and thus looks doubtful to be fit to start on Saturday, whilst Jonny Howson and Rav van den Berg were both withdrawn from that game after taking knocks, but those aren't believed to be anything too serious.

Middlesbrough's last win on the opening day of the season came a decade ago, with a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City, and Swansea City will certainly be no pushovers this weekend.

GK: Seny Dieng

Middlesbrough's undisputed number one goalkeeper, Senegalese international Seny Dieng will be between the sticks for Boro on Saturday, and throughout the campaign so long as he stays fit.

The 29-year-old did suffer a thigh injury in mid-December that kept him sidelined until early March. He'll be hoping to improve upon his 10 clean sheets in 35 Championship games from last term this time around.

Confident with the ball at his feet and capable of starting Boro's attacks with a brilliant range of passing for a goalkeeper, Dieng is exactly the sort of keeper Carrick wants in his team, and should be among the top shot stoppers in the division once again.

RB: Luke Ayling

From stop-gap to irreplaceable. Luke Ayling arrived in mid-January as somewhat of an emergency loan addition after Boro's other right-backs Tommy Smith and later Anfernee Dijksteel were both struck down with injuries.

That forced the club into action in the transfer market, and it was the veteran Ayling that arrived to patch up the right side of Carrick's defence.

But after eight assists in 19 Championship appearances, the former Leeds United man was the cure to Middlesbrough's right-back ailment, with the club wasting no time in handing him a two-year contract this summer.

The 32-year-old is comfortably Boro's first choice right-back heading into the new season, and it is hoped that his attacking output can once again see him providing plenty of goalscoring opportunities for Middlesbrough's forwards.

CB: Rav van den Berg

Undoubtedly one of Middlesbrough's finest pieces of recruitment in many a year. Dutch youth international Rav van den Berg was a colossus in Carrick's defence last season, quickly establishing himself as one of the Championship's best defenders.

Being forced to play out of position at right-back on numerous occasions didn't once phase the 20-year-old, but with Ayling back and Smith not being far away from a return either, Van Den Berg will be able to take his place back in the heart of Boro's defence.

The big centre-back has caught the eye of some top clubs this summer, most notably Spurs, but Boro's young starlet appears committed to seeing through the vision he was sold when he chose to make the move to Teesside last summer.

CB: Matt Clarke

After finally being able to lace up his boots and don the shirt once again following a 14-month-long recovery from back problems, Matt Clarke returned to Middlesbrough's defence like he'd never been away last season.

The 27-year-old was one of Carrick's best and most consistent performers during his 24 Championship appearances last term, and he now faces a three-way tussle with Irish international Darragh Lenihan and the aforementioned Fry for the one remaining centre-back spot.

Crucially for Clarke, however, is that he is left-footed, something that none of Middlesbrough's other central defenders are. As such, Carrick may well give him the nod from a tactical standpoint.

LB: Lukas Engel

A player who is now practically guaranteed of his place in the starting lineup unless Boro make another move in the transfer market, Lukas Engel is now Boro's only senior left-back.

Highly-rated academy graduate George McCormick is the only other player in Carrick's side who is comfortable playing in that position, but is yet to make his competitive debut for the club.

Therefore, so long as the Dane remains fit, he will likely be assured of his spot in the side at the start of the season.

CM: Hayden Hackney

Middlesbrough's shining example of the excellent work being done in the academy ranks, England youth international Hayden Hackney has been among the Championship's finest central midfielders since his breakthrough 2022/23 campaign.

The Redcar-born 22-year-old is a key component in Middlesbrough's side, and that was made abundantly clear last season, after he was only able to make 21 league appearances last year because of injury.

Now back fully fit, Hackney has enjoyed a strong pre-season, and looks set to play a leading role for the Teessiders once again this season.

CM: Jonny Howson

A player who tackles the ageing process as brilliantly as he does opposition players, the evergreen Jonny Howson enters the 2024/25 season aged 36, but certainly not in spirit.

Boro's captain has forged a career in the North East that when it inevitably ends, - it has to at some point, doesn't it...? - will see him heralded as one of the club's finest skippers of the modern era.

Despite his heir apparent in Aidan Morris in the midfield mix now, Howson will have no intention of passing on the baton just yet, and should he put his previously referenced knock behind him this week, he should reprise his role in Boro's starting lineup this weekend.

RW: Isaiah Jones

A winger who can divide opinion at times, but whose numbers can't really be argued with. Isaiah Jones has been a mainstay in Middlesbrough's lineup for the last three seasons.

Plucked from non-league football, Jones has made the right flank his own at the Riverside over the last few years, operating both as a wing-back and as a traditional winger.

His eight goals and four assists last season was his best combined tally of his Middlesbrough career so far, after three goals and five assists in 2022/23 and one goal and eight assists in 2021/22 respectively.

As such, the 25-year-old looks destined to once again be the man Carrick turns towards to lead Boro's charge down the right this season.

LW: Riley McGree

After making Middlesbrough fans wait on tenterhooks over his contract situation for some time, Australian international finally had Teesside breathing a collective sigh of relief this summer, as he inked a four-year extension with the club.

The 25-year-old has been one of Boro's most consistently creative players during his two-and-a-half-year spell with the club so far, notching four goals and one assist in 22 Championship appearances last season.

Before that, the former Birmingham City man bagged six goals and three assists in 2022/23, and is primed for perhaps his best individual campaign to date this year.

CAM: Finn Azaz

A player who only seemed to grow into the Middlesbrough side as last season went on. Irish international Finn Azaz showed exactly why Boro splashed the cash on the former Aston Villa man in January.

Four goals and five assists in 20 Championship appearances in the second half of last season evidenced the creative ability that he possesses, developing into one of the first names on the teamsheet.

As he prepares to enter his first full season as a Middlesbrough player, Azaz could be set for a big 2024/25 campaign.

ST: Emmanuel Latte Lath

Chuba Akpom's goals were always going to be incredibly difficult to replace, but in Ivorian international Emmanuel Latte Lath, Middlesbrough appear to have done exactly that.

The 25-year-old bagged 16 goals in 30 Championship appearances last season, with his lightning quick pace and high-intensity pressing giving nightmares to defenders up and down the division.

With some further supply lines added in the transfer market this summer, Latte Lath appears to have all the tools in place to help him find the back of the net on even more occasions this season, providing he stays fit.