Positive, flowing football & goals may well be in short supply in this match but nevertheless Blackburn Rovers vs Stoke City is still a fascinating clash & indeed a very important one to both clubs as they seek consistency in results. Before the season started, both Blackburn Rovers & Stoke City would have held a mid table finish as a satisfactory achievement for the season & so coming into this match with Blackburn in 11th & Stoke City in 9th both managers must be happy with how thing stand at present. Blackburn Rovers come into this match looking for consistency & to extend their recent good run which has seen them win their last two games. Indeed, those two wins will have come as a massive boost as Blackburn were starting to struggle for points so the 6 points gained should now mean the Blackburn Rovers squad is full of belief & confidence for the games coming up. Blackburn have been very strong at home so far with 4 wins, 1 draw & only 1 defeat from their 6 previous home league matches & that excellent record will give the Blackburn squad the motivation to go for another home win here.
Stoke City
Stoke City have had a fantastic start to the season & Tony Pulis will certainly target this game to achieve a positive result & try to build consistency in results. Everybody knows about Stoke City`s fantastic home record which is to be applauded but frustratingly for Tony Pulis the results away from home don`t match up & that is definitely something he wants to improve. Stoke City are always a well organised, well drilled team who are hard to play against & we are expecting much the same here with Stoke City likely to be very happy with a draw here. We don`t expect goals to be a massive factor in this game because both are well organised defensively & their goalscoring records are poor with Blackburn have only scored league goals 16 so far this season & Stoke City only 13 from their 13 league games.
Betting verdict
This match is a tight one to call because a Blackburn Rovers home win is very tempting & clearly they deserve to be favourites but we see this being a very physical, tight, competitive game & on that basis a scoring draw appeals as a value bet worth taking.
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Prediction:
Tip: X
Odd: 3.40
Bookie: Bet365
Stake: 6 /10
Tipster: Kather
