BLACKBURN ROVERS v CHARLTON ATHLETIC
Saturday 20th December 2014 – 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: David Webb (Lancashire)INTRODUCTIONThis Saturday will truly mark the beginning of the Christmas period, with four matches in two weeks, this is where the Championship season will really heat up, some teams could still be punching above their weight whilst others could require a continuous run of games to really get their season going, this is the period where seasons can be won or lost... the Christmas period has had a bit of irony thrown in this season, with the FA Cup 3rd Round drawn just a week ago, the Addicks not only find themselves against Championship opposition once more but find themselves starting and ending the two weeks against the very same club:
Blackburn Rovers.THE OPPOSITIONWith the January Transfer Window opening in just two weeks; Blackburn Rovers find themselves hit with a transfer embargo after failing to remain within the Financial Fair Play rulings, this could make, Manager:
Gary Bowyer’s job a little harder come the new year as Blackburn find themselves just a point ahead of the Addicks in what will be a crucial match with both sides vying for the Play-Offs…
As mentioned Blackburn currently hold 8th place in the Championship having won a total of eight fixtures this season (just four of these have come at Ewood Park), seven matches have been drawn (possibly about to become eight) whilst six matches have ended in defeat, in terms of current form, Blackburn have lost their previous two matches against Brentford and Sheffield Wednesday whilst their last victory was against Leeds United on the 22nd November.
Continuing with the stats… Blackburn have scored a total of 32-goals this term (Rudy Gestede surprisingly ahead of Jordan Rhodes as their top scorer with 12 goals) whilst 31-goals have been conceded against them with Blackburn only managing to keep three clean-sheets so far this season.
KEY PLAYER
Although Rudy Gestede is ahead in the goal scoring department, for me he is nothing more than a target man who is useful with his head, the battle with the likes of Tal Ben-Haim or Andre Bikey on Saturday could certainly be interesting whilst Jordan Rhodes could also be a key player yet for me seems to go missing in the majority of matches against the Addicks, for me though my key player this Saturday is their Captain:
Grant HanleyBreaking into the Blackburn First-Team in 2009 at the same time as current Manchester United Defender: Phil Jones, Grant originally started his career north of the border in his native Scotland (for whom he has 17-caps) by representing the Youth teams of Queen of the South and Glasgow Rangers; joining Blackburn in 2008 as a 16-year old, Grant has gone on to appear over 120 times for the Rovers and was made Captain in 2014 after the departure of fellow Defender: Scott Dann.
With Bob Peeters favouring the slight Strikers in Igor Vetokele and Callum Harriott of recent weeks, both players will need to be prepared for some rough treatment with Hanley and Co. all too keen to prove just who the Home side are at Ewood Park!!
LINE-UPThe simple question will be on most fans lips this weekend… Will Peeters continue with the same formation that faced Blackpool, with me writing this Preview prior to the Press Conference tomorrow there could be a few changes to the below line-up, with the Christmas period looming though the main question though will be when Chris Solly appears and because of his fitness concerns… will Joe Gomez play in the same side this weekend because of that… You decide!!
Pope
Solly - Ben-Haim - Bikey - Fox
Gudmundsson - Buyens - Cousins - Harriott
Vetokele - Tucudean
PREDICTIONBlackburn Rovers 1-2 Charlton Athletic
Comments
Will be happy with a thirteenth draw of the season. Three points would be a bonus.
Blackburn Roves 1 v CAFC 1 (I type optimistically) .. enjoy it all who travel up there
PS: Who remembers the terrific headed goal from Chelsea's David Webb in the 70s FA cup final replay v Leeds ?
3-0 Rovers
As for predictions, I am worried that the poor performance against Blackpool will carry on and affect the players on Sat, so would be happy with, yes, a draw (Ruining Yoni Buyens Xmas coz he hates draws)
COYA!
I'm bringing a dozen cardboard cut outs to place strategically in the gaps in our end & a tape recording of the tremendous noise generated by us at errr, another game.
With this and the 4 of your 7 sons you're bringing along, we'll show those chicken pluckers what real support is !
:-)