Two promotion contenders in crisis mode

The toughest second division in the world lives up to its reputation again this season. Not only the 46 championship games speak for that, but also the tight situation in the table. The conclusion of the 32nd matchday is the duel between West Brom and Blackburn on Monday evening. The ninth-placed team meets the third-placed team and both teams are dreaming of a return to the English Premier League.

The Baggies from West Bromwich were still in the first division last season and are hoping for a direct return. Blackburn Rovers last played in the Premier League in 2011/12 and were briefly even third-tier. But in 2021/22, the Mowbray eleven is outgrowing itself and is within striking distance of a direct promotion spot. Despite the visitors finishing six positions ahead of the home side, West Brom vs Blackburn are only offering odds of around 1.80-1.85 for the home win.

The relegated team is considered to be extremely strong at home, but has recently performed far below expectations. Accordingly, Monday’s match will also usher in a new era, as Steve Bruce will take his place on the coaching bench in his own stadium for the first time. The match kicks off at 9pm on Monday.

West Brom – Statistics & current form

The club’s officials wanted to take on the mission of promotion with former Germany legionnaire Valerien Ismael. At the beginning of the season, the Baggies acted convincingly with refreshing attacking football. West Brom only suffered their first defeat of the season on matchday eleven. In the last few weeks, however, more and more sand came into the gear and the goal seemed to become more and more unrealistic.

Bruce succeeds Ismael

After the 2-0 away defeat at Milwall on 29 January, Valerien Ismael was relieved of his duties. A few days later, Steve Bruce was presented as his successor. The 61-year-old had been with Newcastle United until October, before the new consortium installed a new coach at the Magpies. Now he is to lead the Baggies back to the top. But his debut also went badly wrong. In the relegation duel against Sheffield United, West Bromwich Albion conceded a 2-0 defeat.

This means that the Baggies have won only one of their last eight games in the Championship and for the first time since matchday one the team is again ranked outside the top six. However, a top six finish is the absolute minimum target to at least dream of a PL return in the play-offs.

Home strength as a glimmer of hope

Matchday 32 results saw the gap widen from a Baggies point of view. The Bruce eleven is now four points behind the coveted sixth place in the table. With a 13-point gap, direct promotion is already a distant prospect.

The negative run must be ended as soon as possible so that the big goal does not burst prematurely. A home game serves as a glimmer of hope, as the Baggies have only lost one game at the Hawthorns Stadium so far, compared to eight wins and five draws. Therefore, the most likely outcome for West Brom against Blackburn is a home win.

Predicted West Brom line-up:
Johnstone – Townsend, Clarke, Ajayi, Furlong – Mowatt, Molumby – Grant, Reach, Diangana – Carroll

Last West Brom games:

Championship
02/09 2022 – Sheffield United 2 – 0 West Bromwich Albion

01/29 2022 – Millwall 2 – 0 West Bromwich Albion

01/26 2022 – West Bromwich Albion 0 – 2 Preston

01/22 2022 – West Bromwich Albion 3 – 0 Peterboro

01/15 2022 – Queens Park Rangers 1 – 0 West Bromwich Albion

Blackburn – Statistics & current form

Three English football title wins stand in Blackburn Rovers’ chronicle, one even since the inception of the Premier League. In the 1994/95 season, Rovers were the best team in the motherland of football. Ten years ago, however, the club suffered relegation with only eight victories this season and has since missed the return by a relatively wide margin. They have never qualified for the play-offs at the end of the season.

Best season since relegation

As of mid-February, long-term coach Tony Mowbary’s team now sits third in the table. Unsurprisingly, this is their best season since relegation. It is interesting to note that last season Blackburn also had 45 goals in the season after 31 league games, but with 14 points less. One of the team’s great strengths this season has been its close games. They have won eight games by a margin of just one goal.

The outstanding scorer is Ben Brereton, who has already scored 20 times this season. The 22-year-old striker has really taken off in recent years, and some fans will have read his story about how he was called up to the Chilean national team. Sega’s Football Manager opened the door for him and since then he has been scoring goals for his ancestral homeland.

Blackburn are faltering

In recent weeks, however, things have not necessarily gone according to plan for the team and this has also had to do with the Brereton personnel. At the end of January, there were international matches in South America on the agenda, so he had to sit out two games and in the third game, due to jet lag, more than a brief appearance was not possible.

Without the top striker, there is usually a lack of penetrating power. For three games now, the promotion aspirants have been waiting for a goal. In the last eight league games involving Blackburn, there have only been a meagre 1.25 goals per game. Accordingly, the predictions for West Brom against Blackburn seem to be Under 2.5 or “Both teams meet? No” seem to be a good option. These have been the correct call in each of the last six league games.

Predicted Blackburn line-up:
Kaminski – Giles, Wharton, van Hecke, Nyambe – Zeefuik, Rothwell, Travis, Khadra – Buckley – Brereton

Last matches played by Blackburn:

Championship
02/09 2022 – Blackburn 0 – 2 Nottingham Forest

02/05 2022 – Swansea 1 – 0 Blackburn

01/29 2022 – Luton 0 – 0 Blackburn

01/24 2022 – Blackburn 1 – 0 Middlesboro

01/19 2022 – Hull 2 – 0 Blackburn

West Brom – Blackburn Direct comparison / H2H record

Ten years ago this duel was an English Premier League match, now the two teams are second-tier, but dream of a return to the strongest league in the world. The Baggies won the first leg 2-1 at Ewood Park this season. This means that in the last five matches between West Brom and Blackburn, betting on both teams to score has been the correct decision.

West Brom – Blackburn betting tips

Even in the case of a defeat, there is no preliminary decision in the promotion race for either team. There are still a number of games on the agenda and the competition will also stumble.

However, a win in this match could definitely be decisive for the rest of the season. Recently, both teams had a lot of problems and had to accept setbacks. For this reason, betting on a home win for West Brom against Blackburn is not particularly lucrative, as value cannot be found at 1.85.

Three games without a goal of their own certainly don’t speak in favour of the visitors from Blackburn either. Uncertainty will be felt on both sides and an attractive football match is not to be expected in view of these circumstances.

A feeling-out and risk minimisation will be the order of the day. Should the game be on a knife edge in the second half, there will be even more attempts to defend the goal conceded instead of forcing a win. Thus, the prediction on the draw at West Brom against Blackburn is recommended with a moderate three units bet. A point win, however, which basically does nothing for either team.