Blackburn vs Coventry Prediction: 10/1 shot on goalscoring trio

Blackburn Rovers are still at risk of relegation, having been beaten by relegation rivals Sheffield Wednesday last time out at Ewood Park. Aynsley Pears’ howler cost them dear, and now they are under pressure again, just three points above the dreaded dotted line. Their opponents on Saturday afternoon (15:00), Coventry City, had their play-off hopes extinguished by Hull on Wednesday night, after that gargantuan FA Cup semi-final effort at Wembley. 

With injuries on both sides, and serious tiredness affecting the Sky Blues, this is a tough one to call. Below you can find my Blackburn vs Coventry prediction, featuring team news and match odds. 

Team News

Blackburn’s Scott Wharton is facing a long spell on the sidelines after suffering a serious knee injury on Sunday. He is now set to be out for the majority of next season, as well as the remainder of the current campaign, in what is a devastating blow to John Eustace and the home side. There’s also a discussion to be had about who starts in goal after Pears’ stinker, with Leopold Wahlstedt waiting in the wings if the manager decides to make a change. 

Meanwhile Coventry are walking wounded right now. Mark Robins played a second-string side from the start against Hull due to fatigue, before bringing on Ellis Simms, Haji Wright and Milan van Ewijk in the second half. Victor Torp and Fabio Tavares are now out for the season after being injured in the semi-final, while Luis Binks and Joel Latibeadiere went off injured against Hull. Mark Robins has already stated he may have to play the youngsters here, with limited options throughout his squad. 

Match Odds

Blackburn Rovers are the favourites for this one, priced at 13/10 to take all three points. That gives them an implied win probability of 43%, while Cov are available at 15/8. A draw is available at 13/5, BTTS is 1/2 and over 2.5 goals is 8/13. 

Coventry to win and BTTS @ 7/2

As a Sky Blues fan, it’s been a rough week. The FA Cup semi-final was simply sensational, despite the ending, and I’m utterly exhausted because of it. The players must have felt the same way, and a couple of goalkeeping errors cost them on Wednesday night. However, with Simms, Wright and Callum O’Hare all likely to start, we should see an improved performance at Ewood Park. 

There are worries about the depth of this squad, but City should be able to field a pretty competitive XI against a Blackburn team that are in trouble. They won’t have any options off the bench, but they can still hurt Rovers, who will miss Wharton and look shaky at the back. 

Cov can’t keep a clean sheet to save their lives, and their BTTS success rate currently sits at 63%. With Rovers boasting the probable Golden Boot winner and a shaky defence of their own, both teams should find the net. 

#PickYourPunt - Ellis Simms, Haji Wright and Sammie Szmodics to score @ 10/1

Goals are the order of the day at Ewood Park, and we’ve got three fine goalscorers in action on Saturday afternoon. Szmodics has 25 league goals to his name, Wright has 15 and Simms 13, so you can see why we are backing all three to find the net. 

Given that defending isn’t a strong point for either side, goals should be on the cards, and these three should score if that is the case. Simms has been in fine form since the turn of the year, and both him and Wright scored against Manchester United. They will want to bounce back here, so I’m happy to back this 10/1 selection. 

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