Liverpool v Blackburn Prediction

Fragile Blackburn up against it at Anfield

Liverpool v Blackburn Prediction:

Monday 26th December 2011, Barclays Premier League: 15:00

Author: Thomas Rooney 22/12/2011

Two teams that have had their fair share of negative headlines meet at Anfield on Boxing Day as Champions League chasing Liverpool host struggling Blackburn Rovers.

Focusing on Liverpool to begin with, it seems fair to say that the attention will be on Luis Suarez once again. The Uruguay striker has been banned for eight games for racially abusing Patrice Evra earlier this season

However, he will feature against Blackburn as the ban does not commence until a potential appeal process is over with. Therefore – much like they did at Wigan this week – the Liverpool fans and players are likely to show their support for Suarez.

This has attracted criticism from many sectors, but if nothing else, it shows that this Liverpool squad is a tight unit and one that will fight for each other.

The Suarez story probably took the attention away from a disappointing 0-0 draw at Wigan too. After the excellent win at Villa, it was another example of a game that Kenny Dalglish’s men should be winning.

Looking at their recent form, they have only conceded three goals in their last nine games across all competitions, but it is wasted chances that mean they are still two points adrift from the Champions League places. Charlie Adam missed a penalty at Wigan for example.

As for Blackburn, where do we start? They have lost their last three games – against Sunderland, West Brom and Bolton – and the atmosphere in the most recent of these was horrific.

In a must win game at Ewood Park, Rovers manager Steve Kean was the subject of massive abuse from the home support who made it clear that they would like to see him removed from his position.

When Bolton went 2-0 up on Tuesday evening, Ewood Park was not a very pleasant place to be. Watching it was embarrassing and even though Kean has clearly done a poor job, whether he deserves the abuse he has been getting is another matter.

The Scotsman is remaining defiant though, bemoaning his long injury list as he speaks about continuing to fight over the Christmas period.

After a run of winnable games though, Rovers face Arsenal after the Boxing Day clash with Liverpool, so they look set to remain rock bottom of the table.

That will certainly be the case after this clash at Anfield. Liverpool have been impressive over the last few weeks and even if this hasn’t always brought them the results they would have been after, they should have enough to defeat a fragile Blackburn side.

Match bet: Liverpool on the Asian Handicap -1.5,-2 @ 1.950 with Bet365 - (Ł200 free bets)

Correct score prediction: Liverpool 3:1 Blackburn @ 12.5 with Betfair