Premier League Match Time: Stoke Vs Blackburn

Stoke City will host Blackburn Rovers in a Saturday afternoon Premier League game at the Britannia Stadium.

Stoke have made a come-back after a bad start that would have prompted their greatest fans to write them off. But not only do the squad look tough but have actually proved hard to beat, after three successive defeats in their first three matches. In their next three, Stoke banked seven points out of a possible nine.

Tony Pulis will happy at the tenacious quality of his squad and that should stand them in good stead in the Birmingham match. But the interesting thing will be to see if the mood lasts, as the longest streak of unbeaten matches Stoke have had, in two previous seasons of the Premiership, is seven matches.

Against a similar team, in Blackburn, the Potters will look to Kenwyne Jones to continue his goal scoring form; Jones has had a strike in every match he has played for Stoke this season. Ricardo Fuller and Jermaine Pennant are unlikely to play in the Birmingham game.

Blackburn have had three successive matches unbeaten, and after a 2-1 win against Blackpool, they will look for a back to back win against Stoke, something they last achieved in March 2009. The Rovers, like their rivals on the weekend, are a never-say-die outfit, and a keen tussle can be expected on the day.

But Blackburn haven't been great travellers, in recent years. But their away win against Blackpool at Bloomfield road last week was an exception and their uncharacteristic willingness to attack in that game saw the Rovers gain two lucky goals.

But an interesting stat is that although Blackburn have scored in all of their last 10 Premier league games, they have not scored a goal in their last three against the Potters.

Blackburn's record at the Britannia is not very encouraging, with just nine wins to show in 41 games at the venue. Also, other than the Bloomfield Road win against Blackpool, they have not had an away win since beating Aston Villa, in their last match of the 2009-10 Premiership season.

Blackburn lost their last match against Stoke at the Britannia, after they were reduced to 10-men following Samaba's send-off with a red card. The final score was 3-0 in the Potters' favour. I am inclined to believing that this year's match will have a similar result.

Stoke are likely to go with the following starting eleven: Sorensen, Collins, Shawcross, Huth, Wilkinson, Etherington, Diao, Whelan, Whitehead, Walters, Jones

Blackburn's possible starting eleven are: Robinson, Givet, Nelsen, Samba, Salgado, Jones, Nzonzi, Kalinic, E Diouf, Pedersen, M Diouf.

English Premier League - Liverpool Maintains Its Lead by Beating Blackburn

The 18-time champion of the Premier League, Liverpool, vindicated its leading position on the table this past Saturday by beating Blackburn Rovers 3-1 on the road in an amazing way. The game was well-played by the two teams but the consistency and determination of the Reds were higher than the Rovers in the second half, when they had trouble on their defense in various occasions.

The Reds for their part, played with conviction and its tactical plan was one that gave positive results to Benitez and his players at the end of the game. The Reds did not score any goals in the past two Premier League matches that finished in draws against Fulham and West Ham, but their effort in this game to find their winning strategies, gave them what they deserved, the victory.

This lost was the 5th consecutive for Blackburn in the Premier League, which remains in the relegation zone with only 13 points. Its coach Paul Ince is trying to find the way to win but some injuries on his key players and the clueless tactical plans in the matches have not helped to get a triumph, even when his players are playing hard.

On the other hand, Liverpool is working hard to maintain their pole position at the table and add more points to achieve their big ambition; winning their 19th title of the Premier League. However, we have to mention that Liverpool has also had struggles and difficulties, but even so they have managed to remain at the top.

In Saturday's game, Blackburn started with more chances than Liverpool during the first 10 minutes of the match, but they couldn't convert due to the fact that "Pepe" Reina was amazingly saving all of the Blackburn's attempts. Even so, the Reds didn't have any clear-cut opportunities during the first 45 minutes and the team's frustration started to show.

Nevertheless, in the second half things turned around for the Reds, who entered more aggressive and with more conviction than ever. Gerrard and Xavi were doing a great job in the midfield to create spaces and convert opportunities of goals. So at minute 68, Xavi Alonso opened the score with a great goal by an assist from Gerrard. Only 11 minutes later, Benayoun scored again for Liverpool placing a 2-0 in the scoreboard. Then at minute 86, Roque Santa Cruz scored the only goal of the match for Blackburn. Finally, to close the game at minute 90, Gerrard wrapped up the victory by scoring the final goal for Liverpool, finishing 3-1. This victory gives Liverpool a total of 37 points in the table, just one point ahead of Chelsea.

Moreover, Benitez was delighted with his team performance, as even when things were not completely on their side; his team took every chance to win. "We know we can play a lot better than we have been but what gives me confidence is that we can come to places like this and get results, even when we are not at our best," expressed the Spaniard Coach. "Clearly it was an important three points for us. We are in a very good position and we want to stay there."

Benitez also stated that players like Mascherano and Gerrard will improve with the time and that key players like Torres and Skrtel will be back to the field soon. That could help to balance the team and given them more support in the attack. The next match of Liverpool will be against Hull City on December 13th at home.

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