Blackburn Rovers play host to Barnsley on Wednesday evening with the opportunity to keep the pressure up on Championship leaders Fulham.
While Rovers start the week three points behind the Cottagers, Barnsley are seven points adrift of safety as they continue to search for just their third win of the campaign.
Match preview
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Over the Christmas period, Blackburn were envisaging moving joint-top of the Championship table, aided by an outstanding run which has featured five successive victories.
However, approximately two hours before their fixture at Hull City on Boxing Day, the game was postponed due to coronavirus cases in the home team's squad, a decision which naturally frustrated the visiting club.
Although Rovers have just three days to wait before their next outing, there was an inconvenience about the whole saga, a common trend up and down the country as the Premier League and EFL insist on trying to play as many games as possible.
Tony Mowbray will feel that he needs to use all of his experience to keep his players focused on the job in hand, particularly in defence as they look to prolong a run without conceding a goal which has now lasted in excess of 500 minutes.
Ben Brereton Diaz remains the star man for Blackburn, however, with the Chile international taking his tally for the season to 19 with a double versus Birmingham City last time out.
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When taking into consideration that Brereton Diaz has scored four more league goals than Barnsley have netted all campaign, it highlights the size of the task ahead of the Tykes at Ewood Park.
Recently-appointed head coach Poya Asbaghi will feel that some progress is being made, with draws being collected from games against Peterborough United, Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion.
Nevertheless, regardless of the inconsistencies of the teams above them, the odd win here and there is making it tougher for Barnsley to get out of trouble.
While Barnsley head into the turn of the year with difficult away games at Blackburn and Nottingham Forest, that cannot be used as an excuse in their bid to avoid slipping further away from 21st position.
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Team News
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Barring any unforeseen fitness issues, Mowbray has no reason to make any alterations to his Blackburn XI.
Goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski returned from injury against Blues and will retain his spot, while Reda Khadra should get the nod ahead of Sam Gallagher.
Having held West Brom to a goalless draw last time out, Asbaghi could stick with the first XI from that stalemate.
However, Asbaghi revealed last week that two more players, who remain unnamed, had tested positive for coronavirus.
Cauley Woodrow had not returned to training by the middle of last week, and will only be selected on the substitutes' bench at best.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Lenihan, Van Hecke, Wharton; Nyambe, Travis, Rothwell, Pickering; Buckley; Brereton Diaz, Khadra
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Collins; Helik, Andersen, Kitching; Williams, Gomes, Benson, Brittain; Styles, Iseka, Morris
We say: Blackburn Rovers 3-0 Barnsley
While the Championship can be remarkably unpredictable at times, this game surely does not fit into that category. At the same time that Barnsley are struggling for points, Blackburn have been dominant, and we expect Rovers to cruise to victory at Ewood Park.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Blackburn Rovers win with a probability of 51.45%. A draw had a probability of 24.3% and a win for Barnsley had a probability of 24.23%.
The most likely scoreline for a Blackburn Rovers win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.63%) and 2-0 (9.04%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.55%), while for a Barnsley win it was 0-1 (6.92%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Blackburn Rovers would win this match.
