Blackburn Rovers vs. QPR Preview

Barclays Premier League

Football
Published: 06/02/2012

It will be last chance saloon for Blackburn Rovers boss Steve Kean when his side host relegation rivals QPR at Ewood Park in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday February 11.

Kean’s job has seemingly been hanging by a thread for the majority of the season and Rovers recent 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Arsenal has now left the inexperienced 44-year-old well and truly on the brink – with his side currently languishing hopelessly in 19th place and three points away from safety.

The visit of QPR will simply be a must win game for Rovers and their manager if they are to retain serious hope of staying in the top flight and for Kean to stand a chance of staying at Ewood Park in the long term.

Fans will be bracing themselves for a dour six-pointer and a win will be just as crucial for the visitors who are currently hovering dangerously above the bottom three in their first campaign back in the Premiership.

It was certainly a missed opportunity for QPR on their last outing at home to Wolves, which saw them slip to a 1-2 defeat after taking the lead early on.

The sending off of new high profile signing Djibril Cisse undoubtedly proved the Hoops’ undoing and Mick McCarthy’s men took full advantage of the extra man to snatch victory.

Up until Cisse’s dismissal however, QPR had acquitted themselves well and looked odds on to build on their impressive start under new manager Mark Hughes.

Although QPR’s dismal away form has to be improved upon, Hughes’ side look excellent value at 9/4 to get back on course and add further misery to Rovers and Kean.

Cisse will be banned for the fixture however the away side should still be well equipped going forward with Bobby Zamora leading the line and Joey Barton and Adel Taarabt pulling the strings in midfield.

Kean has often managed to pull a result out of the bag just when it appears he is fixed for the axe but this time it could be a step too far, as Blackburn look to have run out of ideas.

Although they were not expected to come away with anything at the Emirates, it was alarming just how quickly they were beaten and tailed off trailing 5-1 at half time.

Worryingly for Rovers and their supporters, 54 goals have been leaked in the league to date and that is even with the highly rated Christopher Samba anchoring the back four.

Now that QPR have some firepower in their ranks, it is easy to envisage them running out too strong for the hosts who are haplessly disorganised and desperate in their approach.

At 9/4, there may not be too many better bets than QPR in this round of Premier League fixtures and it seems the obvious selection considering just how doomed and helpless Blackburn looked against Arsenal.

A line can be put through QPR’s loss to Wolves for the aforementioned reasons and Hughes’ men can put clear daylight between themselves, Blackburn and the rest of the teams fighting it out at the bottom of the league.

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Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (06/02/2012) but are subject to change.

06/02/2012     © Frixo 2024

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