ENG. CHAMPIONSHIP BETTING PICK - BLACKBURN ROVERS V LEEDS UNITED

Eng. Championship

2013-02-23 - Blackburn Rovers vs Leeds United

A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter

BLACKBURN ROVERS v LEEDS UNITED
Football – England – Championship
Saturday 23rd February 2013 – Kickoff: 1500hrs

BLACKBURN ROVERS

It wasn’t that long ago since these two teams were doing battle in England’s top-flight but they clash today at Ewood Park with the hopes of attaining a play-off position to be in the mix for possible promotion back up to the Premier League.

However, both Blackburn Rovers and Leeds United have been quite inconsistent all season, and with Blackburn’s shifting of their management throughout the season, they can now hopefully look forward to a period of stability. Current manager Michael Appleton has brought back relative stability following the brief and unsuccessful reign of former player Henning Berg, as Rovers have lost just once in their last five league matches (an unsurprising 0-2 defeat at Hull City in midweek), but previous to that they’d held seventh placed Brighton to draws home and away, along with wins over Bristol City and Ipswich Town.

Blackburn’s home performances have also improved of late with wins over Nottingham Forest 3-0 and the aforementioned Bristol City & Ipswich results and their home record stands at 8-2-6 19/17 which is actually not that bad when you consider their numerous disruptions during this term and the earlier on-going saga involving former manager Steve Kean.

Rovers also have their deadly weapon up front Jordan Rhodes (19 goals, 4 assists) who could well take advantage of a Leeds defence who are yet to have kept a clean sheet away from home in the Championship to date.

LEEDS UNITED

Leeds United take their confidence from last night’s midweek win over Blackpool into this afternoon’s match but their away form is as bad as their home form at Elland Road is good (if that makes sense?); six matches without a win for Leeds on their travels now, and just the one win in their last twelve must have manager Neil Warnock scratching his head and wondering why they can’t transfer their home form on the road.

And as well as drawing a blank in three of their last five away matches, the most worrying statistic is their inability to keep a clean sheet away from home; nineteen away matches on the trot now where Leeds have conceded at least one away goal and if Rhodes is aware of this statistic, he’ll no doubt be licking his lips in anticipation.

Leeds’ away record stands at a disappointing 3-4-9 21/30 as a result and this kind of form could ultimately cost them a top six place unless they make a dramatic improvement.

BLACKBURN ROVERS

Blackburn have home advantage here along with an eager Rhodes to get back on the goalscoring trail, and against a Leeds side who have picked up just one away point from the last possible 18 on offer, I’ll back the hosts giving the quarter ball at still a reasonable price in what coulod be a 2-1 win for Rovers.

The Pick :