Blackburn vs Aston Villa Betting – Carling Cup Semi Final 1st Leg

Thursday, 14 January 2010: Right, here we go again, with the rescheduled Carling Cup Semi Final First Leg match between Blackburn and Aston Villa. The snow fouled things up last Tuesday, so now it is time to head to Ewood Park to see where this tie takes the two teams. Kick off is at 8pm. The other semi final between Manchester City and Manchester United, which was also postponed, will play their first leg next week. So it is time for Blackburn or Villa to get one foot in the door of the first domestic Cup Final of the season. The two teams are far apart in terms of position and form at the moment.

When they met in the FA Cup on January 2nd, Villa ran out 3-1 winners against 10 man Blackburn, making harder work of the win than was probably necessary. Still, they got the job done, and the Carling Cup offers a little respite from the pressure of the Premier League, in which they are just three points out of the drop zone and haven’t managed a win in nine matches. Big Sam Allardyce must really be feeling the pressure at the moment. Blackburn’s current woes were compounded on Monday night, when Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez hit a cool hat-trick against Rovers, sinking them 4-1 in the league. Blackburn then, in all fairness, looked pretty woeful. It was not a performance that would have instilled much hope that there is better times ahead in 2010. Mind you, Manchester City looked great and took full advantage of their weaker opposition.

Whether Blackburn will be able to field any kind of first team strike force on Wednesday night will remain to be seen. Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts both are struggling with injuries, and El Hadji Diouf is serving a suspension. As this match represents half a step over the threshold to a Cup Final, Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill will be sending out the big guns, after resting most of them for the FA Cup victory over Rovers. On even par, Aston Villa should be strong enough to beat Rovers, and when you pile on Blackburn’s current misery, it should make the task even easier for Villa. But this is a Cup semi final and anything can happen. Blackburn probably won’t go at it so lamely as they did against Manchester City, they simply cannot.

With the home advantage, they need to take as much as they can away from the game. It won’t be easy, and Villa will be strong favourites. They need to take at least a draw back to the second leg at Villa Park, but they will have to overcome their big drop in form and a big goal scoring drought to do that.

BETTING STATS

Last 5 Head to Head
Aston Villa 3, Blackburn 1
Blackburn 2, Aston Villa 1
Blackburn 0, Aston Villa 2
Aston Villa 3, Blackburn 2
Aston Villa 1, Blackburn 1

Last 5 Matches Goals
Blackburn – 5 For, 12 Against
Aston Villa – 6 For, 5 Against

Last 10 Matches Form
Blackburn – W0, D6, L4
Aston Villa – W5, D2, L2

Match Prices:
Blackburn to win: 2/1 at Stan James
Draw: 12/5 at Totesport
Aston Villa to win: 6/4 at 888Sport

Tip: Aston Villa -1 Asian Handicap – 3/1 at Bet365