Blackburn Rovers are aiming to maintain their excellent start to the season as they host West Bromwich Albion in the Championship on Sunday. Rovers have looked imperious in the early stages of the season and should be too strong for West Brom.
It has been a perfect start for Blackburn Rovers this season having won all three of their competitive matches across all competitions. Their last Championship outing was a 3-0 victory at Swansea City and they followed that up with a 4-0 win over Hartlepool United in the Carabao Cup first round.
Interestingly, Blackburn Rovers also made a good start last season, suffering just one defeat in their opening nine matches. However, they capitulated in the second half of the season following an injury to star forward Ben Brereton and ultimately missed out of the playoffs.
Blackburn Rovers will be aiming to go all the way this time and things are looking promising under new manager Jon Dahl Tomasson.
It has been a much different start to the campaign for West Bromwich Albion, who have only claimed one win this season. That win was a 1-0 triumph over Sheffield United in the Carabao Cup first round in midweek with Karlan Grant getting the goal.
Technically, West Bromwich Albion are still unbeaten this season having drawn their opening two Championship matches. They began with a 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough in their opening fixture before playing out a similar scoreline with Watford last time out.
The problem for manager Steve Bruce is an overdependence on Karlan Grant, who has scored two of their three goals this season. That dependence is likely to continue with fellow striker Daryl Dike expected to be out for a long spell with a thigh injury.
How the bookies view it
The bookies appear to be split on this one with a win for Blackburn Rovers priced at 15/8 with SBK while a West Bromwich Albion victory is valued at 17/10 by Betfred. A draw is set at odds of 23/10 by bet365.
Head to head
Blackburn Rovers have a 31-24 advantage with 21 draws from 76 previous matches with West Bromwich Albion. However, the Baggies were unbeaten against Rovers last season, earning a 2-1 win at Ewood Park before playing out a 0-0 draw in the reverse fixture.
Players to watch
Ben Brereton’s importance to Blackburn Rovers was established last season as they collapsed after he got injured. The striker is already off the mark this season and could be backed at 15/8 by Paddy Power to get on the score sheet on Sunday.
While Blackburn Rovers have impressed going forward this season, their defence has also been solid as they are yet to concede a goal. Scott Wharton and Daniel Ayala have been at the heart of that backline and could lead the team to another clean sheet at 9/4 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given Blackburn Rovers’ defensive record and with West Bromwich Albion overly dependent on Karlan Grant, BTTS NO could be considered at evens with Coral. Rovers have won to nil in their three competitive matches this season and that run could be backed to continue at 18/5 with Unibet.
Blackburn Rovers have looked to kill off games early this season and could be backed to score first on Sunday at 11/10 with Coral.
This England Championship match between Blackburn Rovers and West Bromwich Albion will be played on Aug 14, 2022 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Blackburn Rovers vs West Bromwich Albion prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
