BLACKBURN ROVERS will be bidding to avoid an FA Cup shock when they entertain Wrexham in the fourth round at Ewood Park on Monday night.
After reaching the quarter-final stage last season, Jon Dahl Tomasson’s team kicked off their 23/24 FA Cup campaign with a comfortable 5-2 win over League One outfit Cambridge United.
Having failed to win any of their last seven English Championship games, Rovers will be hoping a return to cup action will provide some much-needed respite this weekend.
The Lancashire outfit are currently languishing in 17th palace in the second tier after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Huddersfield last time out.
Wrexham, meanwhile, will be looking to claim the scalp of Championship opposition after knocking out League One rivals Shrewsbury 1-0 in the third round.
Phil Parkinson's side are currently occupying second spot in English League Two after falling to a 1-0 defeat at Newport last Saturday.
Outright Betting
Despite winning just two of their last 11 matches in all competitions, Blackburn Rovers are lowly 3/5 favourites with Ladbrokes.
Seeking to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1997, Wrexham are 4/1 underdogs while the draw that would set up a replay at the Racecourse Ground can be backed at 7/2 (UniBet).
Betting Angles
Whilst League Two moneybags Wrexham will attract plenty of attention from punters on Monday night, I’m instead going to side with Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics to Score or Assist at 5/6 (Bet 365).
Despite Rovers’ season being well below par thus far, attacking midfielder Szmodics has been terrorising second tier defences all season long.
No player has scored more goals in the English Championship than the in-form Irishman this season, with Szmodics smashing in 16 goals across his 26 league outings to date.
The Blackburn talisman also bagged a hat-trick in the last round against Cambridge and he’s certainly capable of adding to his impressive tally against latest opponents Wrexham.
Although the Red Dragons are currently sitting in second place in League Two, they have failed to win nine of their 13 road games so far, conceding at least once in eight of those matches.
With all that in mind, backing the English Championship’s leading marksman to have a goal involvement here stands out at 5/6 with Bet 365.
One player who is likely to come up against the aforementioned Szmodics is Wrexham centre-half Ben Tozer who looks worthy of interest to commit a foul at 4/5 (Bet 365).
The Red Dragons defender has given away a free-kick in four of his last five league appearances for the visitors so the 4/5 (Bet 365) about repeat on Monday night makes plenty of appeal.
This FA Cup match between Blackburn Rovers and Wrexham will be played on Jan 29, 2024 and kick off at 19:30. Check below for our tipsters best Blackburn Rovers vs Wrexham prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.