Opposition Preview - Blackburn Rovers

Blog written by ad_wilkin
Published: 22nd September 2023 14:29

Jon Dahl Tommason was rumoured to have been close to leaving Blackburn in the summer due to lack of transfer funds but the manager who earned good reviews last season at Ewood Park has stuck around and continues to build a strong effective squad.

Rovers finished seventh last season, only just missing out on a play-offs place and overachieved with their squad. Tomassen currently has a 46.77% win ratio at Rovers, continuing his success from Malmo (55.91% win ratio).

Rovers have won two (2-1 v West Brom, 1-0 v Watford) drawn one (2-2 v Rotherham) and lost three (2-1 v Hull, 3-0 v Plymouth and 3-1 v Sunderland). In the Carabao Cup they are into the third-round draw alongside Town, scoring 12 goals in their first two games, a 4-3 win against Walsall and an 8-0 thumping of Harrogate.

<h1>Goalkeepers</h1>

Aynsley Pears was picked up by Blackburn after his breakthrough season a Middlesbrough. He’s kept 17 clean sheets in 53 Championship appearances, only conceding 63 goals in the time. This season hasn’t been the best for him with him putting in some good appearances but also struggling at times which is shown by his –2.28 goals prevented. A lot of that will come from conceding three in the 4-3 victory over Millwall which wasn’t his finest hour. He was also at fault for at least one goal against Plymouth and these errors are seeing his status as number one goalkeeper start to be questioned by fans.

Back-up goalkeeper is new signing Leopold Wahlstedt. The once capped Swedish international signed from Norweigen side Odds BK in August this year and made his first appearance in the second round of the cup, keeping a clean sheet in the 8-0 victory over Harrogate. He brings more height (6ft 2in to Pears's 6ft) and will be looking to challenge for that number one sport

Third-choice goalkeeper is 23-year-old Joe Hilton who made his first appearance in the first round of the Carabao Cup but is unlikely to get much more playing time following the addition of Wahlstedt

<h1>Defenders </h1>

Joe Rankin Costello has come through the youth system at Blackburn Rovers, initially starting life as a central midfielder before being converted to play in either full-back position. The second half of last season was when he got his first real run of games in which he managed to net a couple of goals and provide three assists. He comes into this season as the first choice right-back and will hope to improve on last year's performances and really nail that spot down.

His competition comes in the form of Callum Brittain. Brittain joined Rovers in July 2022 after a couple of impressive Championship seasons with Barnsley, leaving the Tykes following their relegation to League One.

He’s not started as many for Blackburn as he did in those seasons but he’s a reliable squad option and is also able to cover the left-back position. Brittain is yet to score a goal in 108 appearances so can’t be considered a goal threat but he is a solid defender and a good dribbler on either wing.

Another academy prospect at the back who started against Harrogate is Patrick Gamble. Naturally a centre-back, Gamble filled in at right-back for that one. That was his first appearance for the club but he’s made the bench a few times so it certainly won’t be the last.

One the other side, the main man at left-back is Harry Pickering. Another player who still has his best years ahead of him at only 24. He was one of Crewe’s star players in League Two and then League One before being snapped up by Blackburn in February 2021, albeit not joining properly until the 2021/22 season with a loan-back clause allowing him to finish the season at Crewe.

He now has two seasons of Championship football under his belt making 76 appearances in that time. He was sent off in the defeat to Hull for a professional foul but regained his place in the team for the Plymouth match.

Although Brittain is able to cover at left-back, the only option in addition to that is youngster Jake Batty who played in the 4-3 win over Walsall. Now 18-years-old, Batty has three England U17 caps and was linked to Newcastle and Leeds last summer. He’s unlikely to feature in the league unless injuries hit but could get some more experience in the cup games.

The youthful looking backline continues at centre-half with Hayden Carter pairing Dominic Hyam for the majority of the league games so far this season. Carter spent time on loan at Burton and Portsmouth to get two seasons of League One football before making his bow in the Championship.

Carter became a first-choice option by halfway through last season and has now featured in 24 league games in a row. He’s currently joint-second in the league for interceptions and does like to step up and press high on the right-hand side of the defence.

His partner in the backline Hyam, is the most experienced of the whole back four. The 27-year-old comes with 130 Championship appearances across spells at Coventry and then Blackburn. Like Carter, he didn’t miss many games at all last season with 37 appearances and the two of them have now formed a really strong partnership at the back which will be hard to break into. Although naturally right-footed, he plays the left-sided role and like Carter will also look to push and press high up the pitch.

Their form and partnership has left Scott Wharton having to make do with cup games and substitute appearances so far this season. Wharton was a regular in the 2021/22 season but hasn’t featured as much since the emergences of Carter. He’s still a very solid defender at this level and has made 81 appearances scoring nine goals and any drop of form from the other two will have him snapping at their heels.

<h1>Central Midfield </h1>

Tommason’s preferred formation is a 4-2-3-1 with the two central midfielders having plenty of space to float around and roam. The most common pairing so far this season has been Adam Wharton and Lewis Travis. Wharton, the more deeper lying of the two, is the 19-year-old younger brother of Scott and another Blackburn youth product.

He broke into the team with a run of starts at the end of last season and has now featured in the last 12 games for Rovers. His energy and tenacity suit the deeper-lying role, breaking up play and forcing turnovers. This set of skills allow Travis to have a much freer floating role.

Travis is yet another who has come through the Rovers academy although he was did have a brief spell at Liverpool beforehand. He’s made 207 appearances for Rovers, scoring six goals in that time. Although his natural role is as another defensive midfielder he is given more positional freedom and has popped up deep but also advanced on both the left and right side so far this season.

It looks like a very similar relationship to the one Sam Morsy and Massimo Luongo have with Wharton playing the deeper role and Travis in the Luongo role, sitting deep where needed but also advancing to help the overload on either wing where it’s required.

More experience has been brought to that central midfield signing with the addition of Norwegian Sondre Tronstad, who has been picked up on a free transfer from Vitesse. He made 114 appearances for the Dutch side, scoring nine goals. It looks like he’ll have to make do picking up appearances in the cups and when players are injured because while he’s needed to build up fitness, Wharton and Travis have nailed down those two spots.

The fourth option to fill those two spots is another Rovers youngster, Jake Garret. The 20-year-old made eight appearances last season and has come off of the bench twice so far in this one as he slowly looks to build up his first team experience.

Another crucial cog in Jon Dahl Tommason’s machine is Sammie Szmodics, so much so that when he doesn’t feature the formation changes to more of a 4-3-3 than a 4-2-3-1.

Szmodics built his reputation as a prolific number 10 in League Two with Colchester United before making the step up to League One level with Peterborough. In his time with the posh he scored 27 goals and got 14 assists in 96 games.

His numbers haven’t hit quite the same levels in the Championship but he has still been an important member of both Peterborough and Blackburn teams in his two Championship seasons so far. He’s started this season in good goalscoring for with a brace against Rotherham and followed that up with another against Middlesbrough with two clean strikes from just outside the box. He will be looking for more against Town.

There’s been some rotation on both sides of the wings for Rovers with Dilan Markandy and Ryan Hedges swapping on the right and Tyrhys Dolan and Andrew Moran sharing minutes on the left.

Left-footed right winger Markanday is a Spurs youngster who Rovers signed in February 2022. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Hearts but struggled for game time there. His performances so far this season have been mixed. He scored on the opening day against West Brom in a solid performance but then dropped off in the next couple of games before being replaced by Hedges. He was back on the scoresheet in the 8-0 win of Harrogate and there’s a good battle for that place on the right.

Ryan Hedges is the more experienced option down that side. He played 43 matches for Rovers last season getting both four goals and four assists. He has the versatility to play on the right, the left or even down the middle but in Tommason’s formation. He sees his best position as on the right hand side cutting in on his left foot.

According to Sofascore, Hedges has been Rovers' second best player this season behind Szmodics so there’s definitely threat up front. His two assists in the cup against Walsall plus Markanday’s dip in form has seen him reclaim his place and he doesn’t look like losing it any time soon. He also scored the only goal and the winner against Watford.

On the other side is one of Blackburn's hottest prospects in Tyrhys Dolan. He’s made 129 appearances already for Rovers at only 21 years of age and has scored 14 goals and got 13 assists in that time.

Dolan has been a regular in the squad for the best part of three seasons so far and like the other side is naturally right-footed cutting in from the left. He lost his place against Plymouth and will look to get it back having perhaps been distracted by transfer gossip while the window was still open.

The man who replaced him in the side against Plymouth was Andrew Moran. The 19-year-old Irishman has joined on loan from Brighton and Rovers will be hoping he can hit the same heights as all of the other Seagulls' youngsters seem to have done, especially compatriot Evan Ferguson.

Moran’s only made three appearances for Brighton so this will be his first real taste of senior football as he looks to push Dolan for that spot. He can also play down the middle so provides an alternative for Szmodics as well. A sub appearance against Watford, a solid performance against Harrogate and an okay showing against Plymouth and Sunderland means he’s the current man with the shirt on that side.

<h1>Strikers </h1>

Nineteen-year-old Harry Leonard was given the opportunity to start up front at the start of the season following a promising pre-season and lack of other options. He netted on the opening day but his form fell off following that. It’s a big ask for him to come straight in and score the goals so he’s more likely to be an option off of the bench or in the cups from now on. With injuries hitting he did start the last game against Sunderland and added to his tally with a goal in the 3-1 defeat.

He’s been replaced in the starting line-up by a far more experienced campaigner in Sam Gallagher. The 27-year-old has been at Blackburn since 2019. The only time he’s reached double figures in the Championship is his loan spell with Blackburn in the 2016/17 season. Despite that, he offers a presence up front winning 51% of his aerial duels last season. This will suit Blackburn's style as they’ll look to use his presence to win headers, stretch the backline and bring the attacking midfielders into play.

Rovers added further depth to that front line this summer with the addition of Niall Ennis from Plymouth on a free transfer. It is the 24-year-old's first time in the Championship having only ever played in League One previously.

Ennis scored 12 goals for Plymouth last season in a campaign where he had to fight for playing time with Ryan Hardie and only made 19 starts. He offers a different option up front for Blackburn for when they want to hold onto the ball and play more passing football and could even fill in behind the striker. He has had to make do with two sub appearances and a cup start so far but will be looking to add more.

A lot of hopes for goals will have been put on deadline day signing Semir Telalovic, who they picked up on a free transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach, especially as he scored a hat-trick in a 9-2 closed-doors friendly win against Rochdale in the international break.

Telalovic doesn’t have much experience, only having played three Bundesliga matches with most of his time spent in the lower tiers in Germany. He’s another one who’s got room to grow at only 23 years of age and will be a bit of a wildcard. Time will tell as to whether he can be crafted into a prolific Championship goalscorer.

<h1>The teams </h1>

Kieran McKenna finally used some of the depth in his squad in Tuesday night's win at Southampton, but I think this game against Blackburn could be back to the tried and tested.

The back five should remain unchanged, Leif Davis’s injury doesn’t look as bad as first feared but this one could also come too soon for him. Brandon Williams was a more than able deputy against Southampton and Harry Clarke put in his best performance in a Town shirt this season.

In midfield I can see the Sam Morsy-Massimo Luongo partnership reforming, despite a solid performance from Jack Taylor. Nathan Broadhead should be a surefire bet to return but could we see star man Omari Hutchinson in one of the other two roles?

Wes Burns has been struggling with a hamstring problem so McKenna could give him a rest in this one, but if he’s fit a firing to go he starts.

The hardest position to call for me is up front. Freddie Ladapo and George Hirst have both had good spells and got in good positions but the consistent all round performances aren’t quite there yet. Dane Scarlett came off the bench to good effect against Southampton and I have a sneaking suspicion that he might get the nod in this one.

The Blackburn team is a bit harder to pick. Tomasson only made two changes for the midweek game but also made a number of 58th minute substitutions. Pears hasn’t had the best start to the season in goal but Tomasson has stuck with his goalkeeper so far and will probably do so for this one.

The back four in front of him is likely to remain unchanged as Rankin Costello returns from a knock and with Brittain performing well in his absence.

The midfield of Travis and Wharton should also continue with there not being too many other options and Szmodics will definitely start in front of them.

The wing positions are likely to see all four of Hedges, Moran, Markanday and Dolan but in which order is anyone's guess. My money is on the same starters as Wednesday night with the other two coming off the bench.

Up top Gallagher has done well but sat out Wednesday with an injury when Harry Leonard came back in, but I think after the defeat Telalovic could be thrown in for his first start at Portman Road.

<h1>Action Areas </h1>

The battle between Wharton and Travis and Morsy and Luongo/Taylor will be an interesting one with both teams playing a similar sort of style. There’s also the battle between the two high goalscoring players in each team Szmodics and Broadhead.

Formation-wise it should match up very similar. Hedges looks to push on high like Burns with Moran tucking in like Broadhead has been doing in recent games. Szmodics will look to play up close to the striker but find the pockets which means Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess will need good communication to step up and stop the danger.

This is a tough one to predict, Town are on a high but have to lose eventually and this very well-organised Blackburn team could be the one to sneak a 1-0. However, they have also looked leaky defensively so it could go the other way.

Fitness will also be a big factor with games coming thick and fast. To keep up the current form with this turn around of matches would be an incredible feat. I hope I'm wrong but I'm going for a 2-1 Blackburn win.

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