Match Preview: Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa

By: Chris | February 6th, 2009

Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa
Premier League
Ewood Park
Saturday 7th February 2009, 3.00pm

Aston Villa’s fight for fourth seems to be almost exclusively fought away from Villa Park. The quest for rich away pickings continues tomorrow against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Premier League Form Guide

Aston Villa: DWWWWD

Villa’s great form recently took a slight hit with our inability to force the ball over the line in our home game against Wigan last Saturday, but our impressive unbeaten run – and our run of away wins – continues. We look for our seventh on the bounce tomorrow, at a ground which has been relatively kind for us over recent years.

Blackburn Rovers: WDDWDD

Blackburn’s form has improved immeasurably since Sam Allardyce took over a seemingly doomed side. Big wins over Stoke City and Newcastle United sit within a run of draws which took in Sunderland, Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough. Pick of the bunch was a festive 2-2 with Manchester City, which Rovers looked like they’d nicked until the death. I was impressed with that performance, but they remain third from bottom.

They’ll be looking for revenge for our smash-and-grab 3-2 win on a rainy night in Birmingham earlier in the season.

Team News

The Villa line-up looks pretty strong again all of a sudden. Cup-tied Emile Heskey will likely start up front with Gabriel Agbonlahor with John Carew providing excellent back-up from the bench. Ashley Young returns (to the league) from suspension, with Stiliyan Petrov stepping back in after serving his ban in midweek. Brad Friedel will face his old club after sitting out Villa’s win over Doncaster Rovers.

The main piece of Blackburn news is a possible debut for new signing El-Hadji Diouf up front. Longer-term, Brett Emerton has been ruled out for the season due to cruciate knee ligament damage picked up against Middlesbrough last weekend.

Why Blackburn away is a must-win

If we’re to pip Arsenal/Liverpool/Chelsea (delete as appropriate) to fourth, it’s going to be largely on the back of our away form. The best way to pick up away points is through the momentum of a good run – that means we need to keep ours going. A win tomorrow will really go a long way to convincing the players that they’re capable. It’ll also send out another message to the teams around us that we mean business and we’re here to stay.

I hate to say it, but we also need to keep an eye on Everton.

Betting