Stoke vs Blackburn prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-03-09 20:00.
Stoke City manager Alex Neil insists he won’t get “carried away” after his club recorded their largest winning margin in three years. The Potters dished out a 5-1 hammering to Sunderland at the weekend – their third success from their last six games across all competitions (L3) – but the boss is warning his players that they need to “back up” that statement victory to secure the club’s survival.
The fans will be hoping their side heeds that advice, particularly given their team have not picked up successive league wins since October. The Stoke faithful have already witnessed as many home Championship defeats (eight) as they did in the entirety of last league season, including three 1-0 losses in their six most recent home outings (W2, D1). Stoke have been especially guilty of producing the odd howler on home turf, highlighted by one of the Championship’s worst records as home favourites (W4, D4, L7).
The Potters may be confident of improving that record against high-flying Blackburn, who have lost nine of the last 16 H2H meetings across all competitions (W4, D3). Rovers should be full of confidence though after stringing together five consecutive wins across all competitions, topped off by conquering second-placed Sheffield United 1-0 at the weekend.
That means that Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side are on the cusp of registering six consecutive competitive wins for the first time since December 2021 in addition to preparing for an FA Cup quarter-final against recently conquered Sheffield United. Despite moving into fourth place, Tomasson continues to talk down their chances of ending their 11-year absence from the top flight, telling the media after the win “if we don’t manage to get to the play-offs then we won’t be disappointed”.
Ket battle: Striker Tyrese Campbell is Stoke’s joint-top league marksman this season, with six of his seven strikes coming after half-time. He will be trying to out-score Blackburn’s Ben Brereton DĂaz, who returned from injury against Sheffield United and is looking to add to his tally of 11 goals this season. Eight of his ten competitive scoring appearances this season saw him register the first or last goal of the game.
Hot stat: Just 12 of Blackburn’s 35 league matches have seen both teams score on the day – the joint-second lowest total in the Championship.