Photo: Fabio Passerini
By Fabio Passerini
Blackburn Rovers play their last home game of the season, and it couldn’t be more important. On the back of a solid 4-1 victory away from home against local rivals Preston North End midweek.
Blackburn sit in seventh place in the table, three points adrift from Sheffield United in sixth place but with a better goal difference.
Despite being in joint second place at Christmas, their winning momentum in the holiday period came to a crashing halt as their away fixture against Hull City was cancelled just two hours before kick-off due to a Covid-19 outbreak among the squad.
Blackburn’s form has dropped off massively since having only won six times in their previous 21 games.
One major contribution to Blackburn’s poor form could be to do with the future of the players within the squad.
A possible eight of the starting 11 are going to be leaving the club this Summer due to transfers, loanee returns or contract expiries – including the likes of star man Joe Rothwell and captain Darragh Lenihan. Manager Tony Mowbray’s contract is also up.
As for Bournemouth, they are the highflyers in the league with only Fulham above them who have already been promoted.
Bournemouth have been in and around the automatic promotion spots all season having only dropped as low as third place.
They look set for promotion as a win against Rovers at Ewood Park could see them grab the second automatic promotion spot providing other results go their way.
With manager Scott Parker in charge, he knows how to get the job done as he has already been promoted from the Championship before with Fulham in the 2019/20 season after a playoff final win against Brentford.
After an impressive start to the season, Bournemouth have gone from strength to strength having lost the least number of games in the league, conceded the second least amount, and scored the second most.
This is down do a solid defensive partnership of Lloyd Kelly and on loan Nathan Phillips. As well as in form goal scorer Dominic Solanke who has scored an impressive 28 goals this season.
It will be all to play for this weekend as the penultimate round of Championship games takes place with both Blackburn and Bournemouth looking to achieve their respective goals.
With Blackburn aiming to end their 10-year hiatus from the Premier League and grab the last play-off spot from Sheffield United, Bournemouth are targeting a return to the Premier League with a revitalised squad and a fresh new manager.
