Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 28 August 2010 - Kickoff 12:45pm

This game is live on TV

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Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers have made a positive start to their new season and continue to be a real tough team to play in front of their own fans at Ewood Park. Sam Allardyce has had it tough in the transfer market, but rumours persist that the club will be taken over and the promise of transfer funds have been made... Unfortunately this is going to happen after September 1st in all likelihood, and that means there will not be anymore significant strengthening of the side.

Allardyce has performed well under trying tranfer conditions as he pulled Blackburn away from the relegation battles when taking over and even guided them to a top 10 finish last season. They have won both home games they have played this season in the Premier League and Carling Cup, and will be hoping to continue the form that gave them a 10-6-3 home record last season. They only lost 1 game at Ewood Park in the 2nd half of last season, and managed to take points off Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in that time.

Keith Andrews is missing this weekend but there could be a welcome return to the side for David Dunn who has been out with an injury. Mame Diouf, the on loan striker from Manchester United, scored 3 goals against Norwich City in the Cup and could get a place in the starting line up.

Possible Blackburn Rovers Line Up: Robinson, Salgado, Givet, Nelson, Samba, Jones, Olssen, Dunn, Pederson, El Hadji Dioup and Kalinic (4-5-1)

Arsenal

Arsene Wenger must be remembering the game his side last played at Ewodd Park when there were some complaints from the Arsenal team that their goalkeeper had been bullied and fouled at set pieces that led to Blackburn goals. At his weekly press conference, Wenger spoke of the refeering display of Chris Foy last weekend, the official for this game, and believed the referee allowed too many fouls on the goalkeeper without penalising the other team.

There used to be a time when Arsenal were considered 'a soft touch' when travelling to the North West of England at places such as this, but I do not prescribe to that view. Arsenal were 4-1-2 in away games when they visited this part of the World last season, although 1 of their defeats was at this ground. The Gunners will not be disappointed with the 4 points picked up from the opening 2 games of the season.

Laurent Koscielny returns to the side after being suspended last weekend although new signing Sebastien Squillaci will not play a part. Denilson has returned to fitness and both Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie are expected to start after coming off the bench last weekend.

Possible Arsenal Line Up: Almunia, Sagna, Clichy, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Diaby, Song, Fabregas, Walcott, Arshavin and Van Persie (4-3-3)

Head to Head

It seems that Sam Allardyce always gets his sides to ruffle the Arsenal feathers enough to allow his side to pick up 3 points. However, he has lost 4 of his 5 meetings with the Gunners since taking over at Blackburn Rovers.

Arsenal have generally had a tough task when coming to Ewood Park, winning 2 of their last 5 Premier League visits to this ground. However, the Gunners have been the first side to score in each of their last 4 visits to this ground which just shows the level of Blackburn's spirit and tenacity in these games.

Prediction

Sam Allardyce will have his team ready to go in this match and they have proved themselves to be a tough unit to break down in front of their own fans. They managed to avoid defeat against the traditional 'big 4' here last season and have only lost 1 game at Ewodd Park in the Premier League in 2010. As mentioned before, this is impressive when considering Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal all played here in that time.

Arsenal will and should know what to expect from this game. It will be a battle and their defending at set pieces will be fully examined by their opponents. The Gunners had an impressive win over Blackpool last weekend, but this is a much tougher test. I think Arsenal will need to start with the likes of Van Persie and Fabregas if they want a full complement of points from this game.

This is usually quite a close game between these sides and much of the game will depend on how effective Blackburn Rovers can be with their tactics set out by Allardyce. If they are slightly off their game, Arsenal could run out easy winners.

However, I think the odds on an Arsenal win are disrespectful to a Blackburn team that has only been beaten by Everton at home in 2010 (and they gained revenge by beating Everton 1-0 this season) and managed to gain credible draws with both Chelsea and United. I am going to pick Blackburn on the Asian Handicap to avoid defeat.

The Pick :

Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Arsenal

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Blackburn Rovers + 0.75 Asian Handicap