Season Preview - Blackburn Rovers

Last season: 10th, 52 points; UEFA Cup last 32; FA Cup semi-finals; Carling Cup third round

Transfers:

In: Roque Santa Cruz (Bayern Munich, £3.8m); Gunnar Nielsen (BK Copenhagen, undisc); Maceo Rigters (NAC Breda, £350,000)

Out: Andy Todd (Derby, free); Michael Gray (released)

Official Website: http://www.rovers.co.uk/

Official Kit:

A statistic which might surprise you is that Blackburn have qualified for Europe four times in the last six years and are set to appear in this seasons UEFA Cup after securing a spot via their success in the Intertoto Cup.

Blackburn have also achieved something which Liverpool haven’t in the past decade and a half and that is winning the Premier League (1994-95). But glory days have long left Ewood Park and they even managed to get relegated in 1999.

The current squad might not have the firepower to challenge for the title, but they can certainly push for a top 6 finish this season. In Benni McCarthy they have a striker worth paying to see and his head injury in the first game in the season might be of great concern. Roque Santa Cruz will need to adapt real quick to the English flow of play and Matt Derbyshire is a real promising young striker. Rovers also have a couple of excellent attacking players in the midfield in David Bentley and Morten Gamst Pedersen. Tenth was definitely not flattering to Blackburn last season.

Schedule via English Soccer Talk:

Blackburn kicked off in the style with a 2-1 victory at Middlesbrough. November and April are the only two months that bring multiple games against the "Big Four" as Blackburn will play Liverpool and Manchester United in each of those months.

April is by far the most difficult month with a road game at Portsmouth and a home match against Tottenham as well as the games with Liverpool and Manchester United, but the last two games of the season in May (at home against Derby County, away to Birmingham) should mean 6 points to end the year and push for a top 10 finish.

EPL08.com prediction:
League Position – 11
Blackburn has hardly seen any transfer activity this season with the only major signing being that of Roque Santa Cruz from Bayern Munich. But Blackburn have a pretty strong squad - able mid-fielders and plenty of striking options. They’ve started the season off in style and are going to be playing in the UEFA cup this season too…

A lot of attacking and hard tackling season is going to be showcased this season by Blackburn but it might not be enough to be enough to make a significant rise in the table.