MATCH PREVIEW: BURNLEY V BLACKBURN ROVERS

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Clarets take on Rovers in East Lancashire derby at Turf Moor

2024-08-30T19:00:00.000Z

MATCH PREVIEW: BURNLEY V BLACKBURN ROVERS

Clarets take on Rovers in East Lancashire derby at Turf Moor

2024-08-30T19:00:00.000Z

Clarets take on Rovers in East Lancashire derby at Turf Moor

Burnley host Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon (12:30pm) in the Sky Bet Championship, as the Clarets return to Turf Moor for the final fixture before the September international break.

Scott Parker's side will be aiming to return to winning ways in the league after winning the first two fixtures before suffering defeat last time out against Sunderland.

The Clarets will also be looking to extend their impressive record against Rovers, with Burnley beating their East Lancashire opponents in the previous six meetings and not losing since 2010.

Ahead of the derby, Burnley added new signings this week with the arrivals of Hannibal, Jaidon Anthony, Jeremy Sarmiento and Josh Laurent.

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How to watch

Saturday's fixture with Blackburn is sold out and tickets in every stand are unavailable to purchase.

The game will be shown live on Sky Sports and to find out the official EFL rights-holders countries showing the game live, click here.

Live audio commentary will also be available as usual via Clarets+ from 12:15pm on the day.

Full match highlights, goals and interviews will be available to view after the match on Clarets+ and across all social media channels.

Click here to view all our Clarets+ packages.

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The opponents

After promotion back to the Championship in 2018, Rovers are in their seventh successive season in the second-tier after staying up on the final day of last season.

During those seven years, Blackburn have finished in the top eight twice, with two 15th place finishes, an 11th place spot and last season's 19th finish.

Since returning to the Championship under Tony Mowbray, John Dahl Tomasson took over in the summer of 2022, before John Eustace then took charge in February of this year.

Rovers have added eight new signings at the time of writing, with the attacking duo of Makhtar Gueye and Yuki Ohashi arriving from RWD Molenbeek and Sanfrecce Hiroshima respectively.

Full-back Owen Beck signed on loan from Liverpool, midfielder Lewis Baker arrived on loan from Stoke City, with goalkeeper Balazs Toth joining from Fehervar FC in a permanent move.

The experienced Danny Batth signed as a free agent, along with former Bristol City forward Andreas Weimann and Jack Barrett from Everton.

There were a handful of departures in the summer window, with last season's top-scorer Sammie Szmodics moving to Ipswich Town, striker Sam Gallagher joining Stoke City and Jake Garrett signing for Bristol Rovers on loan.

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In the dugout

The former Coventry, Watford, Stoke and Derby midfielder started his coaching career with Kidderminster Harriers in 2016 after being named manager of the National League side.

Eustace guided his side to the play-offs in two seasons and reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup, before leaving the Harriers in May 2018 to join Steve McLaren at QPR as the Assistant Manager.

2019 saw Eustace have a brief spell as caretaker manager for the R's and helped the club avoid relegation after taking seven points from seven games.

He was named Assistant Manager of Republic of Ireland in March 2022 under Stephen Kenny, while continuing his role at QPR, before departing Loftus Road in June 2022.

Eustace wasn't out of action for too long though, as the former midfielder was appointed Head Coach of Birmingham City ahead of the 2022/23 campaign and secured the Blues' highest points tally since 2016, avoiding relegation.

Despite a promising start at St Andrews in his second season, Eustace was dismissed from his role in October last year before joining Rovers in February of this year, where he kept Blackburn up on the final day of the season.

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Last time we met

26/04/2023 - Blackburn Rovers 0 - 1 Burnley (Ewood Park)

Burnley: Muric, Roberts, Taylor, Al-Dakhil, Maatsen (Harwood-Bellis 90), Cullen, Gudmundsson (Cork 58), Zaroury (Rodriguez 90), Brownhill ©, Vitinho (Benson 58), Barnes

Unused Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Foster, Obafemi

Blackburn Rovers: Pears, Pickering (Brittain 74), Hyam, Carter, Rankin-Costello, Hedges (Dack 74), Dolan (Thomas 74), Szmodics, Travis © (Leonard 84), Wharton, Brereton Diaz

Unused Subs: Kaminski, Garrett, Phillips

Goals: Benson 66',

Attendance: 18,166 (2,244)

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What Scott Parker said

"This weekend is a huge game for everyone at the Club, the fans, the staff, the players, myself and the coaching staff, we know what this means.

"I've been in many derby's for different teams as a player and it meant everything to me when I played in them and I understood what they meant.

"It brings that raw emotion and we need to represent that emotion on the pitch this weekend, whilst also staying composed.

"We need to bring a certain ingredient to this game, which can be defining. We are under no illusion of how important this is and and what it means to our supporters.

"I represent this football club and I'll take this game head on and every one of these players want to be here and they are fighting for this Club and are all on board with what we stand for.

"We will go out there on Saturday and represent what Burnley means on that pitch and hopefully get three points going into the international break."