Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between Blackburn Rovers and Southampton, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Two sides desperate for victory will face off when Blackburn Rovers welcome Southampton to Ewood Park on Saturday.
Rovers are winless in their last five Championship matches, while the Saints have won just one of their previous eight league outings.
Match preview
After falling two points short of the playoffs last term, Blackburn have experienced a significant drop off in the first two-and-a-half months of the 2025-26 season.
Valerien Ismael's side are languishing in the 23rd position after winning two, drawing one and losing seven of their 10 league matches.
Rovers have lost four of their last five games, including a 3-1 defeat in Tuesday's home clash against Sheffield United despite taking the lead through Yuki Ohashi.
That midweek result represented Blackburn's fourth home defeat in five home league games (D1), leaving them as one of three teams yet to win a home game in the Championship this term.
Rovers will hope to change that statistic on Saturday, and they may be encouraged by the fact that they have won three of their last five home meetings with Southampton (D2).
Ismael will be challenging his side to remain resolute throughout the contest, having seen his team let in 12 of their 16 league goals conceded in the second half of games this term.
After being appointed Southampton boss in the summer, Will Still is under pressure to lead the club back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
However, their promotion push is yet to take off, with Southampton languishing in 18th spot after winning two, drawing three and losing three of their 11 league matches.
Still's charges would have been disappointed with Tuesday's 3-1 defeat against Bristol City, especially as striker Adam Armstrong opened the scoring at Ashton Gate.
Anis Mehmeti cancelled out Armstrong's fourth league goal of the season, before Scott Twine netted a second-half brace to condemn the Saints to their second away league defeat of the campaign.
Having gone three games without a win, the Saints will head to Ewood Park with hopes of picking maximum points for the first time since beating Sheffield United 2-1 at the end of September.
Southampton will also be hoping to produce a strong defensive display after shipping 11 goals across their opening six away league matches this season - only Queens Park Rangers have let in more in a row.
Blackburn Rovers Championship form:
W L L D L L
Southampton Championship form:
L D W D D L
Southampton form (all competitions):
L D W D D L
Team News
Blackburn are unable to call upon the injured trio of Hayden Carter, Jake Garrett and Moussa Baradji, with the latter still waiting to make his debut following his loan arrival from Yverdon.
Todd Cantwell is also set to miss a third consecutive game with the knee issue he picked up in the draw with Stoke earlier this month.
Ismael may decide to freshen up his lineup, with Ryan Hedges and Ryoya Morishita among those who could come into the starting XI.
Meanwhile, Southampton full-back Elias Jelert is set to miss around four to six weeks of action with a quad issue.
Jelert's fellow right-back, Mads Roerslev, is out with an Achilles problem, while forward Ross Stewart is unlikely to feature again in 2025 due to a hamstring injury.
Tom Fellows and Jay Robinson could come into Still's thinking if he opts to make changes for Saturday's away clash.
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Toth; Miller, Wharton, McLoughlin; Alebiosu, Tronstad, Gardner-Hickman, Hedges; Morishita; Ohashi, Gudjohnsen
Southampton possible starting lineup:
McCarthy; Edwards, Wood, Harwood-Bellis; Fellows, Charles, Jander, Welington; Robinson, Scienza; Armstrong
We say: Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Southampton
Blackburn are still searching for their first win of the season, while the Saints have won just one of their last six away matches, and with that in mind, we think the two teams, low on confidence, will have to settle for a point apiece.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
ID:584246:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect8044: Written by
Ben SullyNo Data Analysis infoPreviews by emailClick here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!