Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
Andy Pakes previews this Sunday afternoon clash in the first edition of Game of the Week for 2012
Dave Hughes tells us about his sporting hero, Wes Morgan
This week’s preview for our Game of the Week features the clash between Blackburn Rovers and Swansea City from Ewood Park. In a week that has seen the first manager sacked from the Premier League this season, Steve Kean will be desperate for his side to pick up three points against the Premier League new-boys from Wales.
Form
Blackburn find themselves rock-bottom of the Premier League table, with just seven points from their thirteen games. Their only win all season came in a remarkable 4-3 over Arsenal at home back in the middle of September. Bizarrely, Blackburn’s dreadful start to the season has seen manager Steve Kean rewarded with a pay-rise from the club’s owners. This despite a huge backlash from the Blackburn fans demanding Kean to be removed as manager. It is probably safe to say a win would do Blackburn some good.
Swansea have made a promising start to their first season in the Premier League, sitting in 13th place, just 3 points off Aston Villa in 7th position. Despite just one defeat in their last five games, manager Brendan Rogers will be concerned that his side have failed to get on the scoresheet since their 2-2 against Wolves over a month ago
Team News
Blackburn will go into the game without midfielder Steven Nzonzi who has been banned for three matches by the Football Association for elbowing Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross during the 3-1 defeat at the Britannia last week.
Swansea could be without top goalscorer Danny Graham for the trip to Ewood Park. The frontman, who has 4 goals to his name this term, is struggling with an Achilles injury and is unlikely to feature; Leroy Lita could deputise. Spanish full-back Angel Rangel will also miss out with ankle ligament damage.
Player Watch
Blackburn – Yakubu
The Nigerian moved to Rovers from Everton during the summer and has been a bright spark in a depressing season for the Lancashire side. Blackburn fans will hope that Yakubu can add to his tally of five goals in seven games and fire the side to a first win in two and a half months.
Swansea – Michel Vorm
The Dutchman has been something of a revelation since joining from Utrecht for £1.5m during the close season. His solid handling and acrobatic shot-stopping has been instrumental in the Swans’ six clean sheets in thirteen games. If Swansea are to capitalise on their solid start to the season and push up the table, they will need their keeper to maintain his consistent form, starting against Blackburn on Saturday
Key Stats
Blackburn will need to improve their scoring record in front of their own fans to stand a chance of coming away with three points. Their six goals at home is the second worst in the league behind QPR
Swansea meanwhile will be looking to fix the massive discrepancy between their home defensive record and their efforts away from home. While the Swans have only conceded 2 goals at home all season, they have let in 14 away from home
Predictions
Well, two bad predictions on the trot now, with a terrible call that QPR would comfortably beat Norwich last weekend. Manraj Bahra gets points for spot-on result and scoreline so well done Manraj.
Sports editor James has come up with a brainwave this week, just to add a little ‘excitement’ to our predictions. In the light of Steve Bruce’s dismissal from Sunderland, we have each predicted whether or not we think Steve Kean will be sacked after the game.
Despite my bad run I am going to be brave, stick my neck out and go for a 1-0 Blackburn win, purely from the point of view that it can’t get much worse for them at the moment and if they can’t beat a newly promoted side at home, there really is no hope for them. As I’ve gone for a Blackburn win, I will naturally have to go with a ‘No’ on whether Kean will be sacked or not.
James Tompkinson says… 2-0 Swansea & ‘Yes’ Kean will be sacked
Stephen Puddicombe says… 0-0 & ‘No’
Aimee Howarth says… 2-1 Swansea & ‘No’
Sam Holloway says… 2-1 Blackburn & ‘No’
James being the only one going for Steve Kean to be sacked could well see him earn the adulation from the rest of us and from you, the readers if he is correct. More likely, though, considering Kean got a pay-rise last week, James will be left looking mildly foolish. Ordinarily, this could open up the opportunity for ridicule. We on the Yorker Sports team, however, would never resort to such childish behaviour.
Sam Holloway gets extra points for going for a vaguely possible score this week after his shocking 3-3 shout last week and his embarrassing call during the first edition of this feature. Hopefully there will not be too much uproar about me handing out these extra points, the poor guy needs all the help he can get…
3 goals already in the first 45 minuets... yet again my prediction looking terrible!
...and it finished 4-2. I should probably just give up altogether.
Sam got a point!!!!!!!! (and Andy, well done!)
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