Blackburn Rovers V Wolverhampton Wanderers

Blackburn Rovers V Wolverhampton Wanderers

Kick-Off: Saturday 12^th September – 15:00 GMT

Venue: Ewood Park

Blackburn Rovers

League Position: 18^th Position

Recent Form: LLD

Blackburn manager, Sam Allardyce, will be more than happy to return to domestic action as he aims to turn Blackburn’s fortunes for the good after Blackburn’s lethargic start to the new season which has seen them pick up just one point in their first three outings in the league. Their 0-0 draw with West Ham, at Ewood Park, the same venue for this match, has so far been Blackburn’s only success, if you can call drawing with West Ham at home a success. It’s important that Blackburn register their first win of the season sooner rather than later as Blackburn are a side that can certainly go on a hefty run without winning a game. This was evident last season when Rovers went on a lean spell of 11 games without a Premiership victory.

‘Big Sam’ could be without two key players ahead of this game with Wolves, with both Brett Emerton & Benni McCarthy major doubts, however, Allardyce does have two suitable replacements in the form of El Hadji Diouf & former Champions League winner, Michel Salgado. The latter is still trying to reach match fitness but he may be thrown in at the deep end with Blackburn’s squad extremely thin in terms of ready-made, quality replacements.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

League Position: 13^th Position

Recent Form: LWLD

Mick McCarthy, Wolves manager, can boast a feat of which Blackburn can’t right now, and that’s a Premiership win. Their narrow and somewhat surprising 1-0 victory at the DW stadium last month, against Wigan Athletic, ensured Wolves didn’t go on a lengthy win drought and now the fans will be hoping the team can kick on in a bid to stay well clear of the dreaded drop. For now, at least, Wolves aren’t in the bottom three but early indications show that Wolves could be there sooner rather than later after losing two of their opening four league games.

The International break maybe came at a good time for Wolves after they drew their very last Premiership fixture 1-1, at home to Hull City. However, with very few players actually heading out for International duty, a big boost to the ranks will be the return to fitness of Sylvain Ebanks-Blake. The former Man Utd trainee has the potential to become a big talent but he’s only had a short stint of playing time after a slight hamstring injury at the very start of the season.

Head-to-Head:

Blackburn W: 1 Wolves W: 0 Draws:1

As you can see, the two sides have rarely met in the Premiership, although, Blackburn do have the only win to date with a resounding 5-1 victory at Ewood Park back in the 2003/2004 season. A lot has changed since then though and it would be very surprising to see a similar scoreline on Saturday.

Match Verdict: Blackburn to WIN – 10/11 PaddyPower

Blackburn went on an embarrassing run of 11 games without a win last season and it’s imperative that ‘Big Sam’ guides Blackburn to their first league victory as soon as possible before they get anywhere near emulating last seasons dire run. Our biggest concern for Blackburn is that they’re very light up top, especially as Benni McCarthy is struggling to make this game and Jason Roberts could be their only recognised striker. It could and should be a very tight game with few goals but we reckon Blackburn will do just enough to get their Premiership campaign back on track.

Match Odds:

Blackburn Rovers – 10/11 PaddyPower

Wolverhampton Wanderers – 7/2 SkyBet

Draw – 5/2 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Tip: Blackburn Rovers to WIN – 10/11 PaddyPower