Blackburn Rovers VS West Ham United

Blackburn take to their home pitch on the back of two straight defeats in the Championship. They operate out of a 4-2-3-1 shape, with 9-goal top scorer Gudjohnsen leading the attacking line, Cantwell linking play effectively in the half-spaces, and Afolayan providing sharp, direct runs down the wide areas. Multiple key first-team players including Foshaw, Jorgensen, Miller and Ryuya Morishita are currently sidelined, while Alabiossu remains a major fitness doubt ahead of kickoff. Their right flank defensive depth is extremely thin, and their double pivot midfield unit often collapses under high pressing from opposition sides. Their most reliable attacking routes come from Gudjohnsen’s sharp poaching inside the box, and second ball wins from set piece situations. West Ham travel for this fixture holding an impressive unbeaten away record of 3 wins and 4 draws across their league campaign, with a top-tier attacking output of 2.6 goals per game on the road. They can flex between 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-1-1 formations, with Bowen a massive threat on the right flank, having racked up 7 goals and 7 assists so far this season, Castillos leading the line, while Engels and Mukasa provide flexible defensive cover across the back. Walker-Peters is suspended for this tie, Lamadrid is ruled out through injury, and Soucek is also listed as a doubt. Mavropanos’ dominant aerial presence at set pieces is a well-known, go-to weapon for the side, though their backline has looked uncharacteristically sloppy recently, as demonstrated by their 3-3 draw against Cardiff in their last match.