Blackburn Rovers vs. Liverpool
Ewood Park
10/04/2012
8.00pm
On Sky
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Vital Preview: Blackburn vs. Liverpool
Liverpool may have ended a run of three straight league defeats at the weekend but they still have a terrible recent record of only one win in their last eight league fixtures and an abysmal overall tally of just 9 points from 13 games played in 2012. Tuesday night's fixture away to Blackburn Rovers is the club's last chance to snap out of their current slumber ahead of the crucial FA Cup semi-final with neighbours Everton at Wembley. Kenny Dalglish's players produced an improved showing, particularly in the second half, during Saturday's 1-1 draw with Aston Villa but again a combination of missed chances and bad luck conspired to cost the team a bigger share of the spoils. Like a host of Liverpool's recent opponents, struggling Blackburn will be desperate for points in their battle for Premier League survival. Three straight defeats for Steve Kean's side has seen them slip back into the relegation zone after a mini revival of sorts featurinh back-to-back wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sunderland.
Vital Quotes:
"I don't think next weekend's game is in our heads. We're playing on Tuesday against Blackburn and we have to do better if we want to get a result. The good thing about football is there's always another game coming up. When you are playing for a club like Liverpool there is always a lot to play for. It doesn't matter if there's a trophy to compete for or not." Reds centre-back Daniel Agger, who recently returned from a rib injury, speaking to the Liverpool ECHO
"It's not just us in this position. There's five teams down there all desperate to get out. Togetherness and team spirit are the key in football. But especially now with six games left which are massive. It's been a real testing season. It's been difficult. Hard times. A couple of weeks ago, we thought we might have pulled away a bit but now we are right back in it." Experienced Rovers midfielder David Dunn as quoted by the club's official website rovers.co.uk
Blackburn Rovers Team News:
Rovers will be without Anthony Modeste for the match at Ewood Park after the on-loan Bordeaux striker received a straight red card for violent conduct during Saturday's 3-0 defeat against West Bromwich Albion. Swedish international left-back Martin Olsson suffered a shoulder injury during the first half at the Hawthorns and despite playing on will need to be assessed ahead of the game. Elsewhere there is a relatively clean bill of health and manager Kean is expected to have a near full-strength squad to choose from. Only long-term absentees Michel Salgado and Vince Grella are definite absentees.
Player to watch: Junior Hoilett
The young winger has arguably been the biggest plus point of an otherwise disappointing season at Ewood Park. During Blackburn's recent good run, Hoilett earned the man of the match award in the victory over Sunderland just days after scoring both of the goals to defeat Wolves 2-0 in the previous game. The 21-year-old's pace, skill and directness have caught the attention of a number of club's over the past 12 months and with the Canadian out of contract in the summer, a transfer scramble is expected to ensue for his signature.
Liverpool Team News:
With little to play for in the league it will be hard for Dalglish not to have one eye on Saturday's FA Cup fixture. Daniel Agger made his first appearance in over a month as a second half substitute against Villa and could be in line for a return to the starting line-up. Alexander Doni is expected to retain the goalkeeping gloves as Pepe Reina sits out the second of his three-match ban following last weekend's red card against Newcastle United. Charlie Adam still has no return date set after suffering a lateral ligament injury against Queens Park Rangers last month which means the door remains open in central midfield for the likes of Jonjo Shelvey, Jordan Henderson and Jay Spearing. Right-back's Glen Johnson (hamstring) and Martin Kelly (knock) are both still struggling with niggling injuries but at least one of the duo is expected to recover in time for the Everton game. With this fixture following on closely from the last match, some changes are expected. The likes of Maxi Rodriguez, Craig Bellamy and Andy Carroll will be hoping for a start after all were confined to the bench against Villa.
Player to watch: Luis Suarez
Despite games coming thick and fast, there should be little reason to rest Suarez given his lengthy enforced lay-off through suspension at the turn of the year. Whatever your individual opinion on Suarez, there is no doubting the player's talent. He has been a revelation since signing for £22m last January and despite being linked with a host of other clubs recently has since expressed his desire to stay at Anfield. Technically brilliant and possessing great control, skill and acceleration, the former Ajax player has terrorised defenders throughout the Premier League since arriving. Even allowing for his well-documented absence, which totalled nine games including the one match ban for unsporting behaviour at Fulham, Suarez tops Liverpool's scoring charts this term with 13 goals to his name.
Match Facts & Stats
• Liverpool and Blackburn have met 142 times in their respective histories and Liverpool hold the upper hand with 61 wins to Rovers' 39 and 42 draws.
• The hosts have won just 2 of the last 26 league games between the two sides (losing and drawing 12), but one of those wins was the 3-1 victory in this fixture last season.
• Liverpool have won more games away from home than they have at Anfield this term (6 wins away, 5 at home).
• Blackburn have kept just 1 clean sheet in their last 17 league games at Ewood Park.
• The Reds have won just 1 Premier League game this season after conceding the first goal (against Newcastle in December).
Ref Watch:
Anthony Taylor is the official in charge of this contest and during the 29 contests he has so far officiated this season a total of 87 yellow and 6 red cards have been shown. Both sides have played in recent games controlled by Taylor with Liverpool losing 1-0 to Sunderland last month and Blackburn enjoying a 3-1 victory over Fulham in January. Scheduled assistant referee Dave Bryan has been stood down from the game after two high profile off side blunders helped Chelsea to a 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
Match Prediction:
With Blackburn fighting for their lives and our league season becoming a prolonged agony that only serves to interrupt cup fixtures, predicting a result is again very difficult. In terms of quality Liverpool win every time but as we have seen almost weekly during 2012 that counts for nothing and the greater fight and desire often shown by teams down the bottom is usually enough to overcome us. Hopefully with places at Wembley up for grabs the players will show some additional hunger as they did, in fairness, against Villa last time out. I predict a 2-2 draw.
Next Fixtures:
Liverpool - FA Cup vs Everton at Wembley on Saturday 14th April 2012, kick off 12.30pm.
Blackburn Rovers - Premier League vs Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday 14th April 2012, kick off 3.00pm.
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