Blackburn Rovers - Match Preview

Last updated : 23 January 2007 By Gary Holmes

Early Team News

Watford manager, Aidy Boothroyd is set to persevere with the same squad that lost to Aston Villa at the weekend.

Will Hoskins who made his debut at Villa Park is expected to start, while Al Bangura and Moses Ashikodi are also pushing for places.

On the injury front Lee Williamson has not recovered from a broken toe picked up whilst with Rotherham United and James Chambers is still ruled out with a gash, both players joining longer term injury victims, Clarke Carlisle and Marlon King on the treatment table.

Blackburn Rovers are expected to retain the majority of the side that continued their recent fine away for by comprehensively defeating Manchester City on Saturday, but Andre Ooijer is a definite non-starter after breaking his leg in the win.

Brett Emerton is likely to take Ooijer's place with Jay McEveley retaining his spot in the left back berth.

Strikers Matt Derbyshire and Paul Gallagher, who have both signed new deals, are pushing for places, but Jason Roberts will not feature as he is still two weeks away from a return after suffering a broken metarsal.


History of the Watford v Blackburn Rovers fixture

Watford play host to Blackburn Rovers at Vicarage Road Stadium on Tuesday evening needing to improve on a poor record between the two sides, which has seen the visitors win 5 of the 14 previous games, with the Golden Boys winning on just four occasions.

The last time the two teams met in Hertfordshire was back in February 2001, with Blackburn Rovers inflicting a narrow one goal defeat upon Watford in a League Division One match.

For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here

Recent encounters between the teams:

2000/2001

Tue 20 Feb

Watford

0-1

Blackburn Rovers

CHMP

2000/2001

Tue 12 Sep

Blackburn Rovers

3-4

Watford

CHMP

1995/1996

Tue 24 Oct

Watford

1-2

Blackburn Rovers

LGEC

1992/1993

Wed 09 Dec

Blackburn Rovers

6-1

Watford

LGEC

1991/1992

Sat 11 Apr

Watford

2-1

Blackburn Rovers

CHMP

1991/1992

Tue 17 Sep

Blackburn Rovers

1-0

Watford

CHMP

1990/1991

Tue 19 Mar

Watford

0-3

Blackburn Rovers

CHMP


Recent respective form guides

Watford's poor home run has seen them win just one (Stockport County in the FA Cup Third Round) and draw two of the last six matches at Vicarage Road. During this time only 7 goals have been scored, whilst nine have been conceded.

The Golden Boys' poor home record has been a major factor in seeing them stuck right at the bottom of the division with their 22 games having yielded only 12 points.

Morten Gamst Pedersen: In fine form.
Blackburn Rovers' recent away form meanwhile has been exceptional, and Morten Gamst Pedersen's double at the weekend against Manchester City (3-0) helped Rovers to their third successive away victory, the others being an eye catching win at Everton (4-1) in the FA Cup Third Round, which in turn followed a similiar triumph at Wigan Athletic (3-0) just before the turn of the year.

Priot to this upturn, a 2-1 success at Reading had sandwiched a heavy defeat at Arsenal (2-6) and a disappointing one goal loss at struggling Charlton Athletic at the start of December.

The greatly improved run has catapulted the Ewood Park outfit up the Barclays Premiership table, and Mark Hughes's side now has a much more healthy looking 31 points from 23 games, a return that sees them arrive in Hertfordshire in 10th position.

For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here

Current form guides:

P

W

D

L

F

A

P

Watford

6

1

1

4

5

10

4

Blackburn Rovers

6

5

0

1

13

4

15


FootyMad's Prediction…

Nothing seems to be going right for Watford at the moment and the expected loss of star man, Ashley Young is a big blow, but here at the Golden Boys we remain upbeat, and think a change of fortune must come our way soon.

A victory may be out of the question given Blackburn Rovers' recent form, but we feel Aidy Boothroyd's men are capable of holding the Lancashire side to a score draw. Score Draw

Sequence statistics:

Watford

4 games since last home draw.
Latest 2 games ended in defeat.
Not won in the 2 most recent games.

Blackburn Rovers

3 successive away victories.
7 games since last away draw.
Last drawn game 13 outings ago.