- Team form: Blackburn have won two of their last three home head-to-head meetings.
- Away stats: Cardiff have scored 0.75 goals per game on their four away trips this season.
- Top scorer: Oladapo Afolayan has scored three of Rovers' last six Championship goals.
Rovers have a little more momentum
There's little to choose between Rovers (16th) and the Bluebirds (21st) with nine and seven points respectively after eight games in the Championship, but Rovers have a win and a draw in their last two games and look more likely to pull out a result in this Saturday lunch match at Ewood Park. A 3-1 home win over Millwall and 2-2 away draw at Portsmouth show that Tony Mowbray's team have enough about them to go on the front foot when required and not just settle for a stalemate.
Rovers have won one, drawn two and lost two of their last five games across all competitions. Cardiff's form is equally mixed with one win, one draw and three defeats in their last five across all competitions, although they did take just one point from their first four Championship away trips.
Rovers may have the edge
Away form and recent results
The Bluebirds have failed to win any of their four Championship road games this term, taking one point and losing the other three, while they are averaging a paltry 0.75 goals per away game so far.
- A 1-1 draw at home to Stoke, a 1-0 defeat at Bolton and a 3-1 victory over Charlton at home have been the last three results for Cardiff, who look a little more dangerous on the counterattack.
- Rovers, by contrast, have played the more patient and structured football under Tony Mowbray, who has them set up in a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 system with a lot of structure around a calm build-up.
- Jack Moylan has been Cardiff's top scorer in the Championship with three goals in eight games and he is certainly the one to watch as he has scored two of his side's last five.
Systems and betting
This could test Cardiff, who have been pressing more proactively under Brian Barry-Murphy this season with players rotating between positions in a more fluid 4-3-3/4-2-3-1.
But the sharper bet here looks to be Both Teams to Score at 1.5 and Over 2.5 Goals at 1.62 because we think this could open up a bit with Cardiff's more aggressive forward play leading to giveaways in front of their own goal.
Bluebirds need to press Rovers
Blackburn are set as 2.58 favorites in the match result market, with Cardiff at 2.52 and the Draw at 3.5, so this has 'tight game' written all over it.
But we'll take the hosts to edge it because they have split the last two meetings 1-1 and two of the last three at Ewood.
Andri Gudjohnsen has three Championship goals in seven games and is a reliable source of goals, while Oladapo Afolayan has bagged three times in the Championship run-in and can score a winner for Rovers.
