Tonights game at Ewood Park is an incredibly important one for both teams. Blackburn see the Carling Cup as an excellent opportunity to improve on a currently dismal season, while Villa are looking to establish themselves among the Premier Leagues best and win their first trophy
Brendan Smith Jersey for 14 years.The postponement of the fixture last week will certainly have affected Blackburn more than Villa. Sam Allardyce changed almost all of his starting eleven for the two teams last meeting the aim to concentrate on more important priorities than the FA Cup. This backfired somewhat, as the next game Rovers played turned out to be Mondays league clash with Manchester City, and resting players for this fixture was not an option. The 4-1 lo s will have dented their confidence as well as rendering the highly altered FA Cup squad pointle s. On the other hand, Villa
J T Miller Men Jersey , with the postponement of last Saturdays game against Wigan, have allowed their players a long rest as well as keeping them in all cup competitions.Allardyce and ONeill; head to head once againVillas League Cup form over the past few years has been dismal to say the least. In the past two seasons they have fallen at the first hurdle, with homedefeats against lower-league Leicester City and Queens Park Rangers failing tosatisfy the trophy-hungry fans. But this seasons early exit from Europe at the hands of
Ryan Strome Kids Jersey Rapid Vienna has turned out to be a ble sing in disguise, a slightly le s busy fixture list contributing towards an impre sive cup run. The last time Villa reached the semi finals was 2004, again coming up Sam Allardyce, then manager of Bolton Wanderers. It was Allardyce who came out victorious, midfield dynamo Jay Jay Okocha helping them towards a 5-4 aggregate victory, but lost to Middlesbrough in the final. Martin ONeill will be determined to avoid a similar outcome this
Alexis Lafreniere Jersey time around.Team News:Blackburn: Robinson; Jacobsen, Samba, Nelsen, Chimbonda; Emerton, Dunn, Pedersen, Nzunzi, Salgado; Kalinic Villa: Guzan; Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock; A Young, Milner, Petrov, Downing; Heskey, AgbonlahorPrediction:Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Aston VillaVillas quality, good form and well-rested squadwill just give them the edge against Blackburn tonight. There is little chance that Rovers will lay down and die on their own turf, but Villa, spurred on by
Nick Holden Kids Jersey 5,000 noisy travelling fans, will most likely take the upper hand into the second leg.
