Blackburn Rovers host Burnley at Ewood Park in a huge East Lancashire derby.
Victory would see Blackburn climb to fifth, whilst a win would see Burnley crowned champions of this season’s Sky Bet Championship.
Team News
Blackburn will be without Tyler Morton after he suffered a foot injury during their 1-1 draw at Preston last weekend.
Tayo Edun (concussion) is set to return but Daniel Ayala, Sam Gallagher (both hamstring), John Buckley, Sam Barnes (both knee) and Jack Vale (ankle) remain absent.
Burnley have no fresh injury concerns to report after their shock home defeat to QPR as Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Charlie Taylor and Jack Cork look for starts, having been rested at the weekend amongst unused substitutes.
Hjalmar Ekdal (unspecified) and Nathan Tella (hip) are both still sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Blackburn host Burnley in a 8pm BST kick-off at Ewood Park on Tuesday 25 April live on Sky Sports in the UK, having been postponed from Sunday 19 March due to both teams’ involvement in FA Cup Quarter-Finals.
Stat Attack
- Blackburn are winless in their last seven league meetings against Burnley (D3, L4).
- Burnley are unbeaten in three of their last five league visits to Blackburn (W2, D1, L2).
- Blackburn haven’t suffered five consecutive league defeats against Burnley since a five-match losing run between April 1915 – January 1921.
- Five of Blackburn’s last six bookings at home have been shown after half-time.
- Burnley have kept just one clean sheet in their last five away matches in all competitions (W2, D2, L1).
Prediction
With four draws in their last four matches and no wins in their last seven games across all competitions, Blackburn really need to start forcing wins and cut out the defensive errors which cost them the win at Preston amidst poor end product to a strong attacking performance.
Burnley meanwhile will be eager to respond on the road to their shock first home loss of the season on Saturday in an uncharacteristically sloppy display with poor end product, whilst they will also be boosted by the mouthwatering prospect of winning the title on their local rivals’ turf.
Both teams therefore will be eager to get the win for contrasting reasons but something in me feels that Burnley will seal the title on Rovers’ soil, which should be fun given the rivalry between both clubs but I do expect Blackburn to try and snatch a draw despite their recent poor form.
Prediction: Blackburn 1-2 Burnley