Blackburn Rovers vs. Aston Villa Preview

Blackburn Rovers will be aiming to bridge an eight point gap between themselves and Aston Villa when the two teams meet at Ewood Park on March 3.

Villa are without a win in five games and their recent form has seen them slump to 15th place in the Barclays Premier League table, leaving boss Alex McLeish with a potential relegation fight on his hands unless a quick turnaround in fortunes can be achieved.

Despite Villa’s actual position looking extremely disappointing, they are still fairly comfortable in terms of the cushion they hold over the bottom three – which includes a Blackburn side hungry to bounce back after being outclassed 3-0 away at leaders Manchester City.

And a win for Steve Kean’s men will certainly do much to boost Rovers chances of survival whilst also drawing Villa into the relegation mix with just eleven games to go.

Blackburn have been a difficult club to fathom this season, mainly because they have been woeful for the majority yet able at certain points to play out of their skins and pull off shock results such as the 3-2 victory over a stunned Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Rovers have collected just 21 points from 26 games thus far in the current campaign however a late escape is very much a possibility with the likes of Wolves and QPR struggling to put daylight between themselves and trouble.

Villa fans must be left wondering if things are about to go from bad to worse as within barely a few months they have taken the backward step from being a young, exciting team capable of European qualification to a club devoid of star talent and on the brink of a relegation scrap.

There is a sense that McLeish’s men may be just too good to go down however many football fans have seen those words eaten in the past. The Midland’s club should manage to stumble over the line however this fixture is surely a good opportunity for Kean and Blackburn to give themselves a real chance of beating the drop.

And Villa’s lack of form or obvious quality means it will definitely be seen as a winnable game in the minds of Rovers supporters and probably in the thoughts of Kean himself who continues to survive the sack.

It is not completely surprising to see that Blackburn have been made favourites for this match but whilst they may be able to raise their game at the right time, it is still hard to back them with much confidence at 7/5 simply due to their league position.

The same does, however, apply to Villa who also fail to stand out as a good bet at a best priced 21/10.

Blackburn have yet to record a stalemate at home this season, something which is bound to happen sooner or later and this could be the fixture with Villa having already racked up seven draws on the road.

It is easy to see why this match has not been chosen for live TV pictures and at around 2/1 it makes sense to back both teams to cancel one another out over what should be a scrappy and midfield heavy ninety minutes.

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26/02/2012     © Frixo 2024