Friday, October 29, 2010

Blackburn Vs Chelsea


The league leaders are set to be given a stern test when they visit Blackburn on Saturday. The defending champions have played some scintillating football so far, scoring 25 goals and conceding a miserly two in nine matches, and they are already a healthy five points clear at the top. But regardless of Rovers currently struggling in 17th spot, they will not allow the Blues to strut their stuff at Ewood Park without offering plenty of resistance. Sam Allardyce's side, along with Wolves and Stoke, have come under fire of late for their physical approach. But tough-tackling Blues captain Terry feels the recent criticism directed at teams such as Blackburn is "unfair". It was interesting to see him add this week: "We can't expect to go to Ewood Park and pick up three points just because we're Chelsea Football Club. First and foremost we've got to go there and have a fight with them. We have to be prepared for a scrap." With neither side having played in midweek, Rovers go into this clash on the back of last Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Liverpool and will hope to welcome back defenders Ryan Nelsen (thigh) and Christopher Samba (suspension). Chelsea were given a few anxious moments last Saturday at Stamford Bridge before seeing off a plucky Wolves side 2-0 but having won three and drawn one of their last four league visits to Ewood Park, we expect their superb start to the campaign to continue. Not surprisingly bearing in mind current form and league positions, Carlo Ancelotti's side are a best-priced 1/2 with Ladbrokes to chalk up their eighth victory of the season which has no appeal to us. Rovers can be backed at 15/2 with Boylesports, while the draw is widely available at 10/3 and might tempt a few punters, but we believe class will tell and are steering clear of this one.

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