[Archived] Sunderland 0-1 Rovers

[Eddie]

Well it is crunch time in the Premiership at the moment and we need three points from every game, so who better to play than Sunderland. If you could ever be sure that if a game went true to form we would come out with the three points it would have to be this one. Despite our relatively poor away form (given our home form and league position) Sunderland have the worst home record in the league and have in fact yet to win a game at the Stadium of Light in the league this season. They are 17 points off of safety and given that there are only 8 games left in the season they have little other than pride to play for.

It was only just over a month ago that Sunderland travelled to Ewood to play the re-arranged match. The game finished 2-0 with Bellamy scoring both of the goals and nearly grabbing his first Rovers hat-trick late on. That game was our chance to bounce back after two disappointing defeats to Everton and West Brom away, this time we come into the game on the back of two home victories, hopefully the result will be the same.

The chase for the UEFA cup spots, if not the Champions League, is still very much alive. We go into this game only three points behind fourth spot, something even the most optimistic of Rovers fans would not have believed at the beginning of the season. However, complacency cannot set in. We are also sitting only 10 points ahead of 13th spot and defeat on Saturday could see us drop as low as 8th. We are all well aware of the fact that Bolton are only a point behind and have two games in hand, but all we can do is keep winning and hope that other teams slip up. With Arsenal away at Portsmouth and Spurs at home to West Brom it is only Bolton playing a team not involved in the relegation dogfight. Hopefully those two teams will do themselves and us a favour and pull off surprise results. While we could also do with Middlesbrough bouncing back from last weekends defeat at Ewood by beating Bolton at the Riverside.

As for Sunderland, it is difficult to say who exactly we should fear in their team. There is no doubt that they have players with better ability then they have perhaps shown this season, but they have struggled to score goals, with only 19 this season, and have also conceded at a rate of nearly two a game. Their top league goal scorers are Whitehead and Lawrence, both with three, and we all know that they the striker with the worst goal draught in the Premiership in the form of ex-Rover Stead. We do always have to fear the possibility of former players getting goals against us, but I’m not even sure if Stead will start in this match. They’ve failed to score in nearly half of their matches in the Premiership this year and have kept only three clean sheets. They’ve picked up two points in their last six home matches but haven’t won home or away in eight.

Everything points to a Rovers win, but that is exactly what makes me so worried. It would be typical of our side to give Sunderland their first home win and throw our European aspirations into serious doubt by losing a game at such a crucial stage of the season that we should win easily. Hopefully Tugay will be back from his injury as this seems to be the perfect game for him, other than that the only player we should have out is Savage who will be suspended, if anyone can finally figure out whether this is the only game of his suspension or the first of two or three (?), then that would be great. If not I would expect the same team as played in our last match with Bentley slipping into central midfield alongside Reid if Tugay is not back.

I’m not brave enough to make a prediction as I don’t want to jinx the result, but hopefully the boys won’t let us down, they can’t afford to.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Again, I take no confidence in the fact that we are clear favourites with the bookies to win this.

I very rarely travel to away games outside the North West these days but might be tempted this Saturday,lets hope a couple of thousand think the same.

A chance on paper to boost our away form BUT.....this is Rovers!

Mackems 1 Rovers 1

[RoyRover]

With the way both teams are playing at the moment, you'd say that Blackburn would be the huge favourites for this game. Sunderland haven't won at home all season and this would add weight to the idea that Blackburn should win this game. But Rovers always seem to be the team that a player scores his first goal against, breaks his long run without a goal against and in this case could get their first home win of the season against. We can't be dropping points at this stage of the season, especially against a poor side like Sunderland.

You'd expect Sunderland to get at least one home win this season, and if it happened this weekend, I wouldn't be surprised. I still think that we will win this one and with Bellamy and some of the other players on fire, then I wouldn't bet against us getting three points.

Sunderland 1 - Kyle

Rovers 3 - Bellamy, Pongolle, Pedersen

[Hughesy]

Posted this in the other thread too:

2-1 Sunderland - Hope to god im wrong and that the Rovers win. Iv just got a bad feeling about this potential Banana skin of a game.

Lucky for us Sav will only miss 1 game, rather than 2 games if he had of just been booked once!!

[Montfort]

Logic dictates that we should win this fairly comfortably. ( I thought it looked like we were going to win fairly comfortably on Saturday )

3 - 0 Rovers Bellamy, Pederson and Gray

[Gareth]

Sunderland haven't won at home all season and this would add weight to the idea that Blackburn should win this game. But Rovers always seem to be the team that a player scores his first goal against, breaks his long run without a goal against and in this case could get their first home win of the season against. We can't be dropping points at this stage of the season, especially against a poor side like Sunderland.

You'd expect Sunderland to get at least one home win this season, and if it happened this weekend, I wouldn't be surprised.

392052[/snapback]

IN that case:

Mackems 1-0 Rovers

(Stead 90')

Arse, Spuds & Mike Bassett's lot will all win as well.

[Gav]

In all my years following Rovers we've never performed well against struggling teams. Lets just hope we don't continue that trend on Saturday.

Sunderland 1 Blackburn Rovers 1

16 of us going in a mini bus with one spare place if anyone’s interested. Price will be £15 with a stop on route and stop coming home for light refreshment PM me if interested.

[Flopsy]

really do think rovers will cock this one up - 2-1 Mackams

[Rovers Air Force]

I love all this nagativity!!!

Every time we all think we will cock it up we win!!

3-0 Rovers (Bellemy 23, 72, Pongolle 53)

[ihtd]

If anyone is going to the game via Hull pop us a pm because i would love to see us stuff the Mackems and pretty much put the last nail in their coffin. They are already down, a miracle couldn't even save them.

But that was my heart speaking there, my brain says that we are probably going to be the only side to lsoe to Sunderland at the SOL this season.

Sunderland-2 (Whitbread/Stead)

Rovers-1(Bellers)

[frosty]

Sunderland 0-1 Rovers

Bellamy 82

[greggyk]

With the form Bellers is in, he's gunna rip their defence apart.

Sunderland 1-4 Rovers

[Martyn]

I have a horrible feeling about this one. I keep thinking back to 01/02 when we lost to Leicester away from home late in the season when they were all but doomed.

That said, this team does seem to be a lot stronger mentally then under Souness.

[Eddie]

I have a horrible feeling about this one. I keep thinking back to 01/02 when we lost to Leicester away from home late in the season when they were all but doomed.

That said, this team does seem to be a lot stronger mentally then under Souness.

392130[/snapback]

The game against Forrest that basically led to us being relegated also springs to mind. I agree though, I'm sure Hughes will be up there drilling them and the players have so much to play for in this game that they will probably not underestimate.

[s_simpson_9]

4-1 We will give them an absolute battering.

Todd header.

Pedersen with a tap in.

Bellamy with an eight yarder.

Neill with a screamer.

[Hypo-Luxa]

I wonder if we shouldn't start Bellers on the bench in order to rest him for the more important Wigan match on Monday. Maybe we could see a Pongo/Bentley-Dickov match-up. I'd hate to overlook Sunderland, but if our big guns can be rested against Wigan then we'd have that much more of a chance to batter 'em and get them down beneath us to where we won't have to worry about 'em.

Maybe we just put our big guns on a short leash. Whatever the case I see a comfy win in the cards.

[trueblue]

I wonder if we shouldn't start Bellers on the bench in order to rest him for the more important Wigan match on Monday.

392140[/snapback]

The Wigan match is a WEEK ON Monday mate!

[Hypo-Luxa]

ergh...yes, yes it is a full 9 days after Sunderland...rest for our big guns may not be the order of the day...

sorry lads, I'll be getting my coat now...

[Tris]

If anyone is going to the game via Hull pop us a pm because i would love to see us stuff the Mackems and pretty much put the last nail in their coffin. They are already down, a miracle couldn't even save them.

But that was my heart speaking there, my brain says that we are probably going to be the only side to lsoe to Sunderland at the SOL this season.

Sunderland-2 (Whitbread/Stead)

Rovers-1(Bellers)

392122[/snapback]

It'll be a bigger miracle if you find anyone who's going to drive to Sunderland via Hull ...

I agree with the inevitability of Stead scoring though. I don't want to try and predict the rest.

[Lathund]

1-0 Rovers, with Michael Gray the unlikely scorer.

[RovertheHill]

We'll lose this one and then beat both Liverpool and Chelsea

[tcj_jones]

I think we'll win this and after winning against 'boro, this will put us 3 points up on my prediction. I really cannot see us dropping lower than 7th now. It's all up to Spurs and Bolton to start dropping points.

[Bob M]

Have to agree about the potential banana skin, Sunderland always worry me. In saying that, if Tugay is fit then himself, bellars and ped could run amok. The glass is half full today

4-0 Rovers

Pongolle (x2)

Reid

Bellamy

Edited March 21, 2006 by Bob M

[Oklahoma]

We'll win 2-0, Pongolle and Bellamy score.

[colin]

I don't like to get over confident about results, but I've got to agree with GreggyK.

If Bellamy is half as good as he was against Boro he'll score three.

The Makkems are dire at home, they now know that they are going down, they haven't won at the Stadium Of Light (cue rhyming slang everybody) all season, and, well, that's it.

We should win this one shouldn't we?

Good to see Flopsy putting the Black Hand Of Gloom on this, it's worked quite well recently.