Blackburn Rovers vs West Brom Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2011-12-17 - Blackburn Rovers vs West Brom

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Blackburn Rovers v West Brom
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 17 December 2011 - Kick Off 3pm

Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers looked well on their way to securing a huge 3 points from their visit to the Stadium of Light last weekend, but things completely turned around in the last 6 minutes and they came away with nothing. Steve Kean continues to receive the backing of the owners, but there are rumours of financial difficulties at Ewood Park which may mean they cannot afford to sack the manager.

The defeat at Sunderland left Blackburn in 19th place in the Premier League, 4 points off the safety zone. If they had won last week, the team would have been out of the relegation spot right now and they have a couple of big games at home in the next few days to kick-start their season. Blackburn are 2-0-5 at home this season, scoring 10 goals and conceding 15, and only Bolton have conceded more goals at home so far this season.

Results have not been good for Rovers, although they did win their last home game when beating Swansea 4-2. That was actually Blackburn's only win in the last 12 games in all competitions and their first at home in the League since beating Arsenal. There are some real concerns defensively for the side as they have conceded at least 2 goals in 8 of their last 9 games in all competitions.

Gael Givet had to come off with heart palpitations last week and looks set to miss this game while Michel Salgado is a major doubt. Ryan Nelson could return to the side this week although Martin Olsson is a doubt.

West Brom

West Brom have lurched from one bad result to another in recent weeks, but there must have been some big concerns at the Hawthornes last week when the home team were beaten 1-2 by Wigan. The results have see the team begin to slip down the League, although Roy Hodgson will recognise how tight the bottom of the table is and that a win will push them back away from the relegation zone.

The loss last week, coupled with some other results, saw West Brom move down to 15th in the Premier League table and they are now only 3 points clear of Wigan in the final relegation spot. The Baggies are 2-2-3 away from home, scoring 7 goals and conceding 12.

The team have struggled since beating Aston Villa 1-2 at Villa Park in October, going 1-1-4 in their next 6 Premier League games. More worrying for fans is the fact that 4 of those 6 games took place at home and Hodgson teams have struggled away from home in the past. West Brom have shown some character in earning a 1-1 draw in their last away game at QPR and will look to build on that, removing the bad taste from last weekends game with Wigan.

Zoltan Gera is the only major absentee in the squad as they travel to the North West.

Head to Head

Blackburn Rovers completed the double over West Brom last season when they won this corresponding fixture 2-0 in January.

Blackburn are unbeaten in their last 8 home games against the Baggies, and they have won 2 of the last 3 and kept clean sheets in all of those games.

Prediction

This looks like a game with the potential for a few goals as both sides should surely be looking to attack and earn a big 3 points as the Christmas period of games begin.

Blackburn Rovers are conceding far too many goals in recent games and that is making it very hard for them to earn enough points to keep them moving up the table. It says a lot about a teams capabilities in defence when they have conceded at least 2 goals in 8 of their last 9 games, while also conceding the second most goals at home in the League so far.

West Brom are capable of getting on the scoresheet themselves and have been conceding goals for fun themselves, something Blackburn will feel they can take advantage of in front of their own fans.

Most of the games between the teams at Ewood Park have ended in unders, but it is telling that over half of the games Blackburn have played this season has seen at least 4 goals scored and I have a feeling this could be another.

The 'Over 2.5 Goals' has been priced accordingly to recent statistics, but I still think there is something in the 'Over 3.5 Goals' market- the stand out price of 3.25 at Ladbrokes looks like the layers are taking a chance on this and I will have a small interest.

The Statistics :

BLACKBURN LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-12-03	W	4-2	H v Swansea
	2011-11-05	L	0-1	H v Chelsea
	2011-10-23	L	1-2	H v Tottenham
	2011-10-01	L	0-4	H v Man_City
	2011-09-17	W	4-3	H v Arsenal
	2011-08-27	L	0-1	H v Everton

WBA LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2011-12-03	D	1-1	A v QPR
	2011-11-05	L	3-0	A v Arsenal
	2011-10-22	W	1-2	A v Aston_Villa
	2011-10-01	D	2-2	A v Sunderland
	2011-09-17	L	3-0	A v Swansea
	2011-09-11	W	0-1	A v Norwich