Championship: Blackburn host Burnley in ‘El Lanclasico’ clash
Published:
Sam Barnard, Assistant Sports Editor | October 23, 2015
Blackburn Rovers v Burnley
- Championship
- Saturday, October 24th
- Kick-off: 12:30 BST
- Ewood Park, Blackburn
- Live on Sky Sports 1
Old rivals nearing 100th head-to-head
Football in Lancashire is always a passionate affair, and these two teams in the east of the county, Blackburn Rovers and Burnley, go way back to when they first met in 1888.
In what will be their 98th competitive head-to-head, Rovers edge their Cotton Mills Derby (also known as El Lanclasico) opponents 41-38 overall, but are only the slight favourites at 7/5 with Coral to extend their lead.
That may be due to the fact that they currently sit 10 points and 12 points behind the Clarets in the Championship table, and haven’t beaten them in their last four fixtures.
Recent Premier League side Burnley, therefore, are decent 7/4 shouts for victory, and 9/1 to do so 2-1, which was the scoreline in their favour in the duo’s last meeting, also at Ewood Park.
However, going by recent history, a draw may be the best bet. Prior to that last match in 2014, Blackburn and Burnley had claimed three consecutive 1-1 results, so a share of the spoils once more is priced at 9/4, while that same scoreline is 5/1.
Rhodes v Gray: Who will help their team to win?
While this may be a ‘Battle of the Burns’, there will be an intriguing subplot between two in-form strikers Rovers’ Jordan Rhodes and record Clarets summer signing Andre Gray, who have seven and six goals respectively this season so far.
Scotland’s Rhodes certainly enjoys this derby, having netted in three of his four for Blackburn against Burnley. He is 5/4 to score anytime again, and 5/1 to break the deadlock.
Gray, who got two goals for former club Brentford this term, meanwhile, is unsurprisingly the same price in both markets.
Others to look out for include former Aston Villa forward Nathan Delfouneso, who is 15/8 to net anytime for the hosts, while Burnley’s internationals Sam Vokes and George Boyd are 7/4 and 11/4 respectively.
More tempting prices are available for Clarets duo Matthew Taylor (4/1) and defender Michael Keane (11/2), who surprisingly have three goals apiece already this season.
Related
Take a look at our Championship archive
Coral’s top tip: Three of the last four meetings between the two teams have ended 1-1, so back that scoreline again at 5/1
