Blackburn Rovers Vs Portsmouth Betting – Saturday 7th November

Blackburn Rovers Vs Portsmouth

Saturday 7^th November – 15:00 GMT

Blackburn Rovers

League Position: 17th

Recent League Form: WLWLL

Sam Allardyce admitted he breathed a sigh of relief as the final whistle sounded on Saturday. Rovers may have lost the game 2-0, without causing United too many problems, but ‘Big Sam’ was pleased with the overall performance and attitude from his players and is now delighted that has got three of the so called ‘Big Four’ out of the way. Blackburn have already lost a colossal amount of games considering the season is still fairly young but they’ve all come against extremely difficult opponents, in fact, none of them were actually easy, not by any means.

Blackburn have lost six times already this season but five of those have come on their travels, and against the sternest of opposition. Sunderland, Everton, Arsenal Chelsea & Manchester United, all are the sides Blackburn have faced while on the road this season and are all teams Blackburn lose too, also. Some were heavy and emphatic defeats but the bright side of this very heavy downpour is that Rovers now approach some very winnable fixtures in the month of November that could not only bolster their poor league tally of point but also lift the spirit of the Blackburn camp.

Rovers start with a home fixture with Portsmouth, a side currently bottom of the league, but they then face teams not too far away from them in Bolton Wanderers & Stoke City, both of which are very winnable games for Blackburn but they are games they must win if they are to keep the relegation zone at arms length. However, firstly, they must beat Portsmouth in order to get the ball rolling and, despite Portsmouth’s recent surge in fortunes, could very well happen as Blackburn have been very clinical at home this season.

With Blackburn failing to pick up a single point on the road this season, Rovers have welcomed any home fixture that comes their way, and rightly so. ‘Big Sam’ has seen his side pick up 10 points from a possible 15 at home this season, with victories over Wolves, Aston Villa & Burnley & a 0-0 draw with West Ham. However, Rovers are now on a three match winning run at Ewood Park, scoring 8 goals in the process, although, they have shipped four in return. Only West Ham have failed to score at Ewood Park this season, which is a negative from a Blackburn point of view, but we still feel this is a golden opportunity for Rovers to add some more points to the board and stretch away from the bottom pack.

Portsmouth

League Position: 20th

Recent League Form: LWLDW

Just like their match day opponents, Portsmouth will eye this trip to Ewood Park as a fabulous opportunity for them to also bolster their meagre point tally at the expense of a Rovers side that, with a lose at home to Pompey, could drop into the relegation zone alongside Portsmouth. Paul Hart, the Portsmouth manager, will seek out inspiration from his sides thumping good win at the weekend when they gave Wigan Athletic a jolly good drubbing at Fratton Park last Saturday, with the Southerners winning 4-0.

Before that hugely successful day out at Fratton Park last Saturday, the Portsmouth strikers had failed to score a single goal in the Premiership all season, which is no wonder why Portsmouth find themselves in the predicament they’re in, bottom of the Premier league. Nevertheless, the strikers wasted no time in duelling on the matter and were in sublime form last weekend when Aruna Dindane, a player who has been widely criticsed this season for missing several glaring misses, scored not only his first league goal in a Pompey shirt but also his first Hat-Trick for the club, while Frederic Piquionne scored Portsmouth remaining goal, which was surprisingly his first league goal of the campaign, although, the on loan Lyon front man does have 3 Carling Cup goals to his name, so he hasn’t been completely goal shy since he joined the club in the summer.

With their first home win in the bag, it’s now imperative that Portsmouth go one better this weekend and record just their away win of the season, what would be their first back-to-back wins of the season were they to do so. Portsmouth only away success to date this season came at Molineux when Portsmouth beat Wolves, albeit having the rub of the green that day. Still, a win is a win in today’s climate and Portsmouth have now gone two games unbeaten on the road after they drew their following away fixture at Hull City, one of the dullest 0-0 draws you’ll ever see.

For Portsmouth to record a huge win at Blackburn this Saturday, a win that would be their biggest achievement of the season by a long way, they will need to emulate their performance against Wolves at the beginning of last month. At Molineux, Portsmouth worked their socks, each and every player put in a solid shift. They were quick to break out from defence, didn’t have too many problems creating chances and, more importantly, were like a rock at the back, especially David James, who is starting to come into his own, which is ideal for a club who are seriously struggling for points. Blackburn will be a big test for Portsmouth, especially in defence, and there are reservations, mainly from us, about whether Portsmouth can emulate their performance at Wolves over a month ago as anything less would see them lose this game.

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

Blackburn Rovers W: 6 Portsmouth W: 3 Draws: 1

There aren’t too many teams in the Premiership where Blackburn can say they actually enjoy facing but Portsmouth are actually one of a rare select few. Rovers have won 6 of the previous meetings between the two and have won four of the last five meetings at Ewood Park. Blackburn beat Portsmouth 2-0 when the pair met at this very same venue last season while Portsmouth have generally found goal hard to come by at Ewood Park, scoring just two in their last five visits to Blackburn, failing to score in three of their last five trips.

If you a goal type of punter then perhaps a small wager on Under 2.5 maybe of an interest to you. The previous two meetings at Ewood Park have finished with two or less goals, with last seasons meeting finishing 2-0 to Rovers and the year before going the way of Portsmouth in a narrow 0-1 victory.

Match Verdict: Blackburn Rovers to WIN – 2.10 Boylesports

Portsmouth are a rejuvenated side after a decent run of form which has seen them pick up seven points from their last four games. However, Sam Allardyce knows full well the importance of winning games at home this season as Rovers aim to avoid the dreaded drop. So far, Blackburn have won three out of four at home this season, the other ending in a 0-0 draw. Portsmouth, on the other hand, have lost three out of five on the road, although, they are unbeaten on their travels in their last two outings. Still, Portsmouth are up against a Blackburn side who know they have a fight on their hands to stay up and they will show Portsmouth what fighting spirit really is all about.

Match Odds:

Blackburn Rovers – 2.10 Boylesports

Draw – 3.40 PaddyPower

Portsmouth – 3.65 Expekt.com

 Update: The result of Blackburn v Portsmouth was 3-1 (goals by Roberts (2), Nelson; O’Hara)