Blackburn vs Swansea prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-02-17 15:00.
After not posting a league draw since April 2022, Blackburn Rovers have now put together four successive Championship stalemates for the first time since 2016/17! Play-off chasing Rovers scored a late equaliser in the latest of those, a 1-1 draw against West Brom in midweek which led to manager Jon Dahl Tomasson waxing lyrical about his side’s attitude. Such high praise comes despite the fact Blackburn are five games without a league win (D4, L1) for the first time since April last year.
Even after such a poor run, they’re still well in the frantic Championship melee for the play-off places, and a win here could send them as high as fifth depending on results elsewhere. But as the only side with a minus goal difference in the top half, Rovers need to find a way of balancing the books up top as only five Championship teams have scored less than their 33 league goals ahead of the round, and three of those sides occupy the bottom three!
Visitors Swansea City may represent the perfect opposition for a Rovers resurgence, as they’ve never beaten Blackburn away from home in any league contest (D5, L14). The Swans sail here on a high however, after ending a three-match winless league run (D1, L2) with a 2-1 victory over relegation-threatened Blackpool, and now sitting just five points adrift of the top six, it appears there’s yet another contender for the play-off places.
The Welsh outfit may need improvements to their travelling form to reach those heights though as they have won just one of their last ten league away outings (D5, L4). And with only three Championship sides conceding more than their 25 away goals ahead of the round, it remains to be seen if Swansea can trouble Rovers, particularly as they suffered a 3-0 defeat in August’s reverse fixture.
Players to watch: After a wicked free-kick marked his first league goal since November last time out, Blackburn will hope Ben Brereton DĂaz can strike again, particularly as he also netted in the reverse victory. The Swans carry their own threat through Liam Cullen, who has three goals from his last five Championship away outings – each arriving after the hour mark.
Hot stat: This season, no Championship side has conceded the game’s opener more times than Swansea’s 19 ahead of the round.