Burnley vs Blackburn Rovers: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Burnley suffered their first loss of the season last time out against Sunderland, but we are backing them to respond in comfortable fashion against their rivals Blackburn. The Clarets have been dominant against their opponents, as they are unbeaten in the last nine meetings between the pair, including six consecutive victories.

Defensively they have also been strong, not conceding a goal to Blackburn in their previous five, whilst Rovers have failed to keep a clean sheet against them in their last nine.

In all competitions, Blackburn have not kept a clean sheet in their last three. However, this fixture does not tend to provide goals, with less than 2.5 goals scored in eight of the previous 10. Expect this trend to continue – Burnley 2-0 Blackburn

Blackburn make the trip to take on rivals Burnley at Turf Moor, with both sides hoping to continue their strong starts to the Championship season.

Date: 31/08/24

Kick-off time: 12:30

Venue: Turf Moor

Burnley’s battle to make an immediate return to the Premier League continues against Blackburn as they look to recover from their first defeat of the season. After winning their first two games against Luton and Cardiff by a combined score of 9-1, they fell to a 1-0 loss away at Sunderland, who maintained their own winning start. It was a disappointing setback for the Clarets, but one that can be put behind them with victory this weekend.

They will be taking on a Blackburn side who have also enjoyed a great start to the campaign, and are looking to build on a 2-1 win against Oxford United last time out. That victory put them on seven points and in third place, with the club yet to face defeat. However, this game against Burnley will be by far their toughest test of the campaign.

Blackburn have shown that they can be vulnerable at the back, conceding twice in two of their games. This should give Burnley confidence in getting back on track with the quality they possess up top. Josh Brownhill has already scored twice, whilst Lyle Foster, who was amongst their top scorers last season, will be hoping to get off the mark. They will have to replace the impact of Wilson Odobert, who recently left for Tottenham, but manager Scott Parker has plenty of options to do so.

At the back, Parker will be pleased to know that he does not have to deal with the threat of Sammie Szmodics, who joined Ipswich. Szmodics was the Championship top scorer last season with 27 goals. The visitors will try to fill the huge hole with Yuki Ohashi, and the striker has done a good job so far with two goals in three games.

Since 2012, these two teams have met eight times in the Championship. It is a fixture that has been largely dominated by Burnley with five wins and three draws. They had drawn three consecutive games 1-1, before a five-game winning streak which the Clarets are hoping to extend. It has been a thoroughly dominant stretch in which they have not conceded a single goal. Two seasons ago, Burnley did the double over their opponents, winning 3-0 at home with goals from Ashley Barnes and Anass Zaroury. The reverse fixture was a 1-0 victory, Michael Benson scoring the winner. Blackburn’s last win against Burnley came back in 2010, when the pair were both in the Premier League.

Burnley vs Blackburn will be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.

Burnley

New signing Bashir Humphreys was on the bench last weekend, and could be set for a debut. They should have a fully fit squad to choose from for this game.

Blackburn

Striker Yuki Ohashi was rewarded with a first start last weekend after scoring in both of his previous two substitute appearances. Expect him to get another start in this game. Blackburn have no fresh injury concerns and could name an unchanged line-up.

Burnley:

In their last four games, Burnley have won two, drawn one and lost one. The Clarets have made an excellent start to the season as they look to make an immediate return to the top flight. They started their campaign with an impressive 4-1 win over fellow promotion hopefuls Luton Town. They took an early lead through Josh Brownhill before Wilson Odobert added a second before the break. The hosts pulled one back, but further strikes from Dara O’Shea and Vitinho secured the three points.

They followed this with an even more dominant result against Cardiff, as they won 5-0 at home. An own goal put them in front, with a Luca Koleosho finish doubling the lead prior to half-time. Brownhill, Zeki Amdouni and Johann Berg Gudmundsson completed the scoring.

Last time out, they faced a tricky trip to Sunderland. It resulted in their first defeat of the season, as they were beaten 1-0. Romaine Mundle scored the winner midway through the first half. The first game of this run was their final friendly of pre-season, and they ended with a 1-1 draw against Cadiz.

Blackburn:

In their last five games, Blackburn have won four and drawn one. Blackburn headed into the new league season following a strong pre-season in which they came through undefeated, the last of which being a 1-0 win over Stockport. They continued this form into the campaign as they got off to the perfect start with a 4-2 win over Derby County in their home opener.

They took the lead in the first half through Tyrhys Dolan, but were pegged back midway through the second. However, they were not on level terms for long as Andreas Weimann restored their advantage five minutes later. Sammie Szmodics and Yuki Ohashi added on before Kane Wilson pulled another back for the visitors.

EFL Cup action followed and they cruised safely into the second round with a 6-1 win over Stockport. They returned to league action with a 2-2 draw at Norwich. Ryan Hedges gave them the lead, but the hosts were able to turn it around. Ohashi scored late on to salvage a point. Their most recent game was against Oxford United. They managed to come from behind to win 2-1. They went a goal down on 44 minutes, but Joe Rankin-Costello equalised in first half stoppage time. Arnor Sigurdsson netted the winner with less than 10 minutes to go.

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