Bristol City v Blackburn
Wednesday December 9, 19:45
Sky Sports
Bristol City fail to fire in home defeat
Bristol City dropped out of the top-six over the weekend following a frustrating 1-0 home reverse to Birmingham. City were outscrapped on Saturday as the Blues struck late on to secure maximum points, deserved reward for their second-half ambition with the Robins left to lick their wounds following another disappointing result at Ashton Gate.
After a dire opening half, the Robins almost went ahead straight after the break when Tomas Kalas met Chris Brunt’s inswinging corner, only to see his effort cleared off the line. But Birmingham grew as the game wore on, with home goalkeeper Daniel Bentley the busier of the two stoppers, before the decisive set-piece goal arrived 10 minutes from time.
Dean Holden‘s men failed to spark in front of goal and the Bristol City boss said: “We were disappointing, particularly in the final third – we weren’t able to open them up. We’ve had a lot of play around their box and it just wasn’t quite there for us – we have to swallow it. Now it’s about the response.”
Famara Diedhiou could be recalled for Wednesday’s contest.
Blackburn extend unbeaten streak
Jacob Davenport rescued a point for 10-man Blackburn against Brentford on Saturday, levelling three minutes from time. Joe Rothwell put Rovers in front with a super solo effort, running past three reluctant challenges before lashing a shot into the corner from 18 yards. But a straight red card for skipper Darragh Lenihan but the visitors on the back foot.
Brentford equalised from the penalty spot following Lenihan’s harsh dismissal and the Bees went ahead after the hour mark as their extended pressure eventually told. But Tony Mowbray‘s men refused to buckle and Davenport poked home after the hosts failed to clear the lines to earn Rovers a share of the spoils against the odds in West London.
Mowbray was angry with the refereeing decisions post-match saying: “I think it’s a really, really poor decision and obviously it had a massive impact on the game, because from being pretty dominant for long, long spells in that first 36 minutes we had to change tack and we sit here happy enough that we take a point from that.”
Defender Scott Wharton suffered a long-term injury on Saturday and will be unavailable, although Derrick Williams could return this midweek.
Bristol City and Blackburn have enjoyed varying degrees of dominance in this fixture down the years with Rovers taking top honours in both of 2019/20’s renewals. The Lancashire outfit were comfortable 2-0 victors here in December OF last year and have now registered three Ashton Gate triumphs in their past five visits to the stadium this century (W3-D0-L2).
No Championship team has won more points on their travels than Bristol City 3.1511/5, but the Robins have earned only 11 points on home soil this season (W3-D2-L3) with their only taste of success arriving when welcoming bottom-eight opposition. Hardy, tough to break down and clinical on the counter, City have been unable to replicate the same formula here.
Blackburn 2.3611/8 are unbeaten in seven and head to Ashton Gate having earned maximum points in four of their past six league outings. However, like their hosts, Rovers have tended to excel when taking on the lesser lights of the division, boasting a W7-D0-L1 record against the bottom-half and a less than average W0-D4-L4 return against the top-12 this term.
Only two of Bristol City’s eight Ashton Gate fixtures have featured Over 2.5 Goals 1.855/6 with half failing to even produce more than a solitary strike.
The Robins’ home matches are averaging only 1.75 goals per-game with Dean Holden’s outfit conceding in five of six games here when excluding contests against the bottom-two in the division.
Blackburn have proven much more refreshing. Rovers’ 3.13 goals per-game average is a league-high as Tony Mowbray’s men have struck 31 goals across their opening 16 encounters. The visitors have notched multiple goals in five away days already with 6/8 crossing the Over 2.5 Goals barrier and 4/5 at top-half teams seeing both sides score.
Considering City’s preference to keep contests tight and competitive, I’m not so keen to get involved in short goals prices. Instead, I’ll jump aboard the 1.804/5 available via the Same Game Multi on Blackburn Double Chance and Under 3.5 Goals – the hosts boast only a 35% win rate at home since the start of last season with 74% of ties going Under 3.5 Goals.
Source: Betfair UK English Championship
