England - Premier League: Fulham vs Blackburn Fulham are sitting just four points above the relegation zone after losing to Birmingham at the weekend and the Cottagers need to win this game in order to return to the safe zone. Blackburn escaped the relegation zone with back to back wins over Portsmouth and Bolton and they will be under no pressure at Craven Cottage.
Johnson and Murphy could be back
Fulham have been playing really well lately and Roy Hodgson was at pain to explain how his side lost to Birmingham. They conceded a cheap goal and lost the game despite bring in control for big part of the match. The Cottagers are, nevertheless, much more convincing at their Craven Cottage and we see them as favourites in this clash. We expect the hosts to start strongly in the search for an early goal and you should seriously consider backing Fulham to score the first goal at odds of 1.83 offered by Boylesports.
Roy Hodgson has welcomed back two influential players, Danny Murphy and Andy Johnson to training but he is still pondering whether to use them in this match. Damien Duff and John Paintsill will return to the starting line-up after being rested at the weekend, but Diomansy Kamara will be out for at least two weeks after undergoing a minor knee surgery. Fulham have been very convincing at home lately, dropping just two points from last four games at Craven Cottage and we expect the trend to continue.
Rovers have the key to survival
Blackburn are aware they need to beat their fellow strugglers in order to ensure survival and have so far been impressive at this. Back to back wins over Portsmouth and Bolton have helped them escape the dangerous zone and can now even afford a defeat at Craven Cottage. The players will obviously give their best to continue the good run of results and we expect them to adopt the same approach that worked so well against Bolton. Rovers will defend in numbers while waiting for their chance through counterattacks and seeing Fulham are unlikely to risk too much either, we see a good value in betting on under 2.5 goals at odds of 1.80 offered by Paddy Power.
Boss Sam Allardyce will again be absent as he awaits a minor heart surgery due on Friday, with his assistant Neil McDonald set to sit in the dugout for the second match running. Defender Gael Givet is the only injury doubt at the moment and apart from him, Neil McDonald has no selection problems. Rovers usually have problems with scoring in away games and we don’t think they’ll be able to hurt Fulham’s rock-solid defence. Betfair pays 2.81 on Fulham to keep a clean sheet.
Betting verdict
Fulham have been playing pretty well lately and they definitely didn’t deserve to lose to Birmingham, while Blackburn tend to struggle against the teams outside the relegation zone. The Cottagers are the better team here and with Murphy and Johnson back after injuries, we expect them to see off Rovers.
Looking for livestream! Here it is! Our tip: Bet 5 on Home win
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