Article: Blackburn Rovers vs Swansea City Match Preview & Thread| Football, Swansea City, Blackburn Rovers

please log in to view this image

...............................................

please log in to view this image

Blackburn Rovers................................... vs ...................... Swansea City
Ewood Park
Blackburn
Referee Chris Foy
Sat 03-12-11 15:00 PM KO

For travel info/info on the stadium click HERE
For links to watch the game online, click HERE
​

Welcome one and all to the match thread for the game between Blackburn Rovers and Swansea City. The last time these teams met was in March 1984 at Ewood Park with the hosts securing a comfortable 4-1 victory, but it's likely to be quite so comfortable for Steve Kean's men this time around. The hosts go into this match seven points, and seven positions adrift of the Swans, sitting bottom of the table. What's more, no team has ever stayed up after having the same points total that Blackburn currently have, and they really need to start winning games if they're to have any chance of staying up.

The Match;

Blackburn are looking for their first league win since the 17th of September against Arsenal, and even then they were gifted two own goals in a somewhat fortuitous, and sometimes farcical, affair. Rovers are owners of the somewhat worrying statistic of not having kept a clean sheet in their last 16 games. No doubt there will be work going on behind the scenes to address this issue. They lost to Cardiff midweek to go out of the League Cup at the quarter-final stage, with Steve Kean claiming they "forfeited the game" to concentrate on the league. For me, a cop out, but that's just my opinion and maybe he did really think that going out of a cup competition was worth it if it meant fresher legs for key players. Still, big call.

Swansea are still chasing their first away win, starting poorly before coming so close at Wolves only to implode, followed by an impressive showing at Anfield holding Dalglish's men to a 0-0 draw. Two home games (Man Utd & Villa) played and one point gained, Rodgers will be looking to pick up three points here as, despite the Swans midtable status, there is no breathing space amongst the 8 or 9 teams who could realistically be dragged into the relegation quagmire.

Prior Form; (most recent at top)

Cardiff City 2 - 0 Blackburn Rovers League Cup
Stoke City 3 - 1 Blackburn Rovers Premier League
Wigan Athletic 3 - 3 Blackburn Rovers Premier League
Blackburn 0 - 1 Chelsea Premier League
Norwich City 2 - 2 Blackburn Rovers Premier League

Swansea City 0 -0 Aston Villa Premier League
Swansea City 0 -1 Manchester United Premier League
Liverpool 0 - 0 Swansea City Premier League
Swansea City 3 -1 Bolton Premier League
Wolves 2 - 2 Swansea City Premier League

Team News;

Samba, Olsson and Salgado should all return after hamstring strains, but Nzonzi serves the second game of a three match ban after admitting an FA charge.

Swansea are likely to be without both Angel Rangel and Danny Graham for their visit to Ewood Park, both picking up injuries during the game against Villa thanks to the midlanders rough-housing. Dobbie is pressing for a return to action, and Caulker is nearing a return to full fitness so will be back in the fold soon.

Trivia; - Courtesy of atouchfarvetched & Opta

• Morten Gamst Pedersen covered most the ground for Blackburn in that game with 6.88 miles.
  
• Pedersen has topped the distance chance for Blackburn in 5 of their last 7 games.
  
• Steven Nzonzi has covered a total of 89.05 miles so far this season, the third highest total of any player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index
  
• Steve Kean has pointed to fact his team were unlucky against Stoke, and had 15 shots, with 10 on target
  
• Mauro Formica may have missed the most clear chance in that game, and his return of two goals from seventeen attempts and 76% on target leaves something to be desired
  
• Swansea played out a 0-0 draw with Villa in their last game, with Joe Allen covering the most ground with 7.03 miles
  
• Ashley Williams has excelled so far this season and is ranked 65th in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, while Nathan Dyer is ranked in 78th having completed an incredible 50 dribbles this season – second only to team mate Scott Sinclair’s 70 in the total ranking.
  
• The one area where the Swans may see themselves as needing extra cover is up front, having scored just twelve goals so far this season.
  
• Top scorer Danny Graham has scorer four goals so far this season, but from 25 attempts, making a chance conversion rate of 16%, while Scott Sinclair’s three goals have come from 34 attempts making a conversion rate of just 9%.
  Michel Vorm has kept the most clean sheets in the PL this season (six).
  
• Blackburn have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 16 Premier League games, a new record for the club (they went 15 games between March-September 1996).
  
• Swansea have conceded just 103 fouls this season, fewer than any other team.
  
• Only Wigan (180) have conceded more fouls than Blackburn.
  
• Seven points after 13 games is Blackburn's worst ever start to a Premier League season.
  
• No team with seven points or fewer after 13 games in the last 10 seasons has gone on to avoid the drop. The last team to do so were Derby County in 2000-01.

Completely guessed lineups;

Blackburn Rovers

Robinson

Givet
Salgado
Samba
Dann

Formica
Olsson
Lowe
Pedersen

Rochina
Yakubu

Swansea

Vorm

Rangel
Taylor
Williams
Monk

Britton
Gower
Allen

Sinclair
Dyer

Graham

Key Battles;

Yakubu & Rochina vs Monk & Williams

While I think the game will be won in midfield, it will be of utmost importance to the Swans for their centre-backs to marshal the threat of Rovers' two forwards. Yakubu is a seasoned Premiership strikers with a record surpassed by few, and Rochina showed last week he's capable of scoring spectacular goals, and will need to be watched carefully.

Brendan Rodgers ahead of the game;

Steve Kean before the game;

 

Analysis;

On paper another game which could go each way, and might not be pretty. The worst home record against the worst away record. One very leaky defence against one which is normally fairly tight but prone to catastrophic collapse on occasion. Steve Kean is unlikely to vary his formation to match the Swans and I expect this to work in Swansea's favour. The Swans should be able to maintain possession in the middle of the field and hopefully restrict Blackburn from feeting Rochina and Yakubu. The aforementioned centre forward pairing are unlikely to press Monk and Williams as they have been in the last two games at the Liberty Stadium, so I expect Ash Williams to have a lot of the ball and he'll probably make a silly amount of passes tomorrow.

I see this game going one of two ways. It'll either be an ugly game, where no-one manages to wrestle control completely (though I'd still back the Swans to have the better of it) or the Swans will take complete control of the midfield and Blackburn will have to rely on counter attacks to inflict damage. Obviously, the first goal is crucial as for the Swans it's useless having the lions share of possession if you're losing, while if the they manage to get an early goal themselves it'll heap pressure on an already beleaguered Steve Kean and the Blackburn faithful are unlikely to let their frustrations be known anything less than vociferously if recent showings have been any guide to go on.

The loss of Angel Rangel means Jazz Richards will come in at right back and otherwise the Swans have a first choice defensive unit availble in Vorm, Taylor, Monk and Williams all fit. Richards started nervously and has since said he "felt sick with nerves" for the entire game, but he managed to shake it off on the football field at least in the second half as he put in a solid shift and he'll now be looking to stake a claim to a regular spot in the team with at least one or two more games coming up where he'll need to do a job. Leroy Lita, too will be looking to prove a point after his brief run in the team came to end the last time Danny Graham regained full fitness. He looked lively in his time on the pitch against Villa and he'll be looking to trouble Paul Robinson in the Blackburn goal.

I expect Allen, Britton and Gower will have the run of Lowe and Pedersen in the middle (I'm aware this is a guessed lineup!) but they'll still have to guard against being robbed of possession in dangerous areas. Allen will be looking to bridge the gap between midfield and attack better after Danny Graham had looked isolated at times against Villa. Granted, this was due to Villa's tactics, but it has been an underlying issue for the Swans and they need to start getting bodies further forward if they're to score more goals. Sinclair is still looking to get off the mark in open play, and will fancy his chances against one of the PL's leakiest defences.

Blackburn try and play football, which is to be admired given their form, but unfortunately for them it hasn't been working. If they came into the game on the back of an impressive run, I'd be saying you'd expect them to turn us over every time, but that isn't the case. They're in, frankly, dreadful form and are there to be beaten. If the Swans can replicate the defensive form they show at home they could and should go on to win this game. The Swans system is much more drilled and instilled in the players than the one Steve Kean is trying to achieve success with, and should be enough in my opinion. I'm going for a Swans win, their first away win of the season. The Swans, and I'm not talking solely about scorelines here, have shown that when it comes down to it they are, despite the media/pundit/fan sniping about our squad being "too small to compete", willing to roll up their shirt sleeves and battle for the points, and this will stand them in good stead here. I think it's more likely that the Swans will keep a clean sheet, therefore I'm predicting a Swansea win.

Iechyd Da.

Scott

Scottswan's famously biased, ill-fated and banned prediction;

Blackburn Rovers 0 - 2 Swansea City

 

Another top post ScottSwan. And nice analyss. I wonder if we will see Routedge or will Sincair keep his position. Dyer took a couple of nasty tackes again Vilaand was sub'd - nothing's been mentioned about his fitness so I am hoping and assuming that he is good to go.

 

Cheers Yankee! Here's a question for the floor....

Has an English team ever lost to two Welsh clubs in club competitions within the same week? Could be another first today!

 

Greart thread again Scott, apart from the venue
Blackburn Rovers................................... vs ...................... Swansea City
The Liberty Stadium
Swansea

Should be an interesting game with both teams needing points, although Blackburn would need the win more than the Swans. Blackburn have been playing well, just not getting the results. This could play into our hands, but we`ll have to score, something we`re not very good at so far, away from home anyway. If we score first, we should win, if Blackburn score first, more than likely, we`ll lose. Best bet is a draw !

 

There's always one thing! Damn it! Maybe I'll make it a competition. Find the error

 

Quality thread again Scott. If there is still a competition on for most mistakes, I think I found five.

Huge game for both teams, and I expect a dirty game from Blackburn, to try and nullify our passing game. However, I think we are the better team, so for the first time this year, I think we will get three points away. It's gonna be very tight, but we'll sneak it by the odd goal I reckon.

Blackburn 1-2 Swansea. Samba, Sinclair then Gower.

Leon is gonna dazzle again and get MOTM

 

It's taking a bit for Blackburn to gel , hope it takes just a bit longer . There a better team than the table shows . Good luck to Jazz , a lot of weight will be placed on him if he starts his first Premier League game . This is as big a game for us as it is for them . Nice thread , enjoyed the read

 

Apologies for any mistakes... I've been a bit slovenly in my preparation the last few weeks. B-, must try harder

 

Jazz is going to be solid.

This game will play into our hands. Rovers need the points. Draws are no good to them in their positionand they are paying st home, the crowd willbexpectbthem to go forward, perhaps with plenty of vim and vigor especially early on. This should give us plenty of save exploit on the counter. I like Lita in this situation, Allen too.

 

Before I shoot off to watch the game live, just like to put my score for this game, Swansea to win 2-1, though I have a feeling we will come away with a draw, but here's hoping for all three points, and Blackburn to forfeited another game!.............

please log in to view this image

 

Agustien finally makes the bench ... good news

 

anyone got a thread guys?

 

Seen that coming. swans have been awful so far.

 

1-0 down already with no shots on target and just one off target so far....is my prediction coming true .. hope not...

 

http://www.realtvsport.com/channel-2.php

 

Another fine tuned pass by Gower

 

Leroy!!!

 

there's only one Leroy Lita...there's only one Leroy Lita......get in there son!!!!!!! great assist by mark gower......yahoooooooooooo

 

Has anyone got a current working link?