Blackburn v Tottenham – Preview

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Blackburn Rovers play host to Champions League aspirants Tottenham on Saturday with the Ewood Park side desperate to get their campaign back on track.

Jermain Defoe of Tottenham after scoring

Rovers manager Sam Allardyce may have recovered successfully from recent heart surgery but his side’s recent form has been anything but healthy.

Blackburn are without a win in five Premier League games, with their only goal in those games coming in their 2-1 midweek defeat at the hands of Birmingham City.

Rovers currently find themselves just three points clear of the relegation zone but, while Allardyce and co will no doubt be nervously looking behind them, Harry Redknapp’s Tottenham have their sights firmly set on breaking into the top four and securing that all-important Champions League berth.

Spurs secured a superb 3-0 victory against fellow Euro hopefuls Manchester City in midweek, a win which returned the north Londoners to winning ways after their surprise 1-0 defeat away at Wolves at the weekend.

England hitman Jermain Defoe was on the scoresheet once again against the Citizens to take his Premier League total for the season to a joint-high 13 goals.

The former Hammer has also hit three goals in his last four league starts against Rovers, a tally he will confident of adding to on Saturday.

Buoyed by that win over Manchester City, Redknapp remains confident his side can keep the pressure on the teams above them.

“We have to keep picking up results,” he told the club website. “I feel we have been consistent enough, we’ve been playing well enough but we had a blip against Wolves on Saturday. But that’s life.”

While the Ewood Park faithful haven’t been treated to much goalmouth action in recent weeks, Saturday’s fixture may still provide them with a decent amount of drama.

In the last eight Premier League meetings between Blackburn and Spurs, there have been six red cards, including one in each game last season, a fact which referee Peter Walton will no doubt be well aware of.

Tottenham will travel to Ewood Park without the injured trio of Ledley King, Jonathan Woodgate and Carlo Cudicini, while Honduras midfielder Wilson Palacios remains a doubt.

Brett Emerton played only 23 minutes of Rovers’ midweek game with Birmingham and the Australian now looks set for a spell on the sidelines. However, experienced schemer David Dunn should be back for the weekend.