Preview: Blackburn Rovers vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers

Championship side Blackburn Rovers will attempt to get the better of Premier League opposition when they welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to Ewood Park for Sunday’s FA Cup fourth-round tie.

Rovers are looking to reach the fifth round for the third consecutive season, while the visitors are hoping to advance to the next stage for the second season in a row.

Match preview

© Imago

Blackburn’s main priority is to secure a top-six finish, with Rovers currently sitting in fifth place in the Championship table after winning 13, drawing six and losing 12 of their 31 league matches.

While they may occupy a playoff berth, John Eustace‘s side have experienced a difficult run of results in recent weeks, having lost four of their last five matches.

After losing three consecutive matches, Blackburn halted their poor run of results with a 2-1 home win in their derby clash with Preston North End, before they came out the wrong side of the same scoreline in last Saturday’s away meeting with Queens Park Rangers.

Tyrhys Dolan netted a 53rd-minute penalty to cancel out Michael Frey‘s opener, only for QPR’s Jack Colback to score a 76th-minute winner to condemn Rovers to a third consecutive away defeat since recording a 1-0 win against Middlesbrough in last month’s trip to the Riverside.

That narrow victory over Michael Carrick‘s side took place in the FA Cup third round, setting up Blackburn’s first meeting with Wolves since the two sides played out a goalless affair at Molineux in April 2017.

Blackburn have not beaten Wolves since recording a 2-0 Premier League away victory in March 2012, while their most recent head-to-head home win took place in December 2010.

© Imago

Wolves have already beaten one Championship side in the FA Cup this season, with Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rodrigo Gomes scoring in last month’s 2-1 victory over Bristol City, helping their club reach the fourth round for the fourth time in five seasons.

Unfortunately for Vitor Pereira‘s side, they followed their successful trip to Ashton Gate with three consecutive defeats against Newcastle United, Chelsea and Arsenal, extending their winless league run to five matches (D1, L4).

However, they finally managed to claim their first Premier League of 2025 in last Saturday’s home clash against Aston Villa, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Matheus Cunha finding the net in a 2-0 victory, moving their side out of the drop zone and two points clear of danger.

While Wolves will be prioritising their Premier League survival fight, they may still be dreaming of mounting a cup run in a bid to win the FA Cup for the first time since 1960.

However, before they can look too far ahead, they will have to negotiate a tricky away tie against Blackburn, with the visitors hoping to produce a strong defensive display after shipping three goals in both of their last two road trips against Newcastle and Chelsea.

They will be able to take confidence from the fact that they have avoided defeat in each of their last eight competitive meetings with Blackburn, while they have also emerged victorious from three of their previous four visits to Ewood Park.

Blackburn Rovers FA Cup form:

Blackburn Rovers form (all competitions):

Wolverhampton Wanderers FA Cup form:

Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):

© Imago

The hosts will head into the fourth-round tie without the services of Harry Pickering, Hayden Carter, Scott Wharton, Sondre Tronstad, Yuki Ohashi and Harry Leonard.

Wolves academy product Dion Sanderson is cup-tied after representing his parent club Birmingham City in the second round against Blackpool.

Yuri Ribeiro, Cauley Woodrow and Emmanuel Dennis are all set to feature in the matchday squad after joining Blackburn on transfer deadline day.

While it remains to be seen whether any of the trio start, Eustace has suggested that he is willing to rest some of his regular starters, with the Blackburn boss seemingly keeping one eye on the club’s playoff bid.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Yerson Mosquera, Enso Gonzalez, Sasa Kalajdzic and Jorgen Strand Larsen.

Pereira has indicated that deadline day additions Nasser Djiga and Marshall Munetsi may not be ready to make their debuts against Blackburn.

Meanwhile, Boubacar Traore should be available for selection after recovering from an illness which kept him out of the win over Villa.

Like Eustace, the Wolves boss may also opt to rotate his squad, which could see starting opportunities handed to the likes of Sam Johnstone, Tommy Doyle, Carlos Forbs and Rodrigo Gomes.

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Toth; Rankin-Costello, Batth, Hyam, Ribeiro; Travis, Forshaw; Cozier-Duberry, Cantwell, Hedges; Woodrow

We say: Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

There is a fair amount of uncertainty about how Sunday’s game will play out, with the two managers likely to ring the changes for the fourth-round tie.

With that said, Blackburn have won two of their last three home matches, and we think that the Championship side may spring a surprise to eliminate a Wolves side that have lost their previous two away games.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

ID:565103:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect14384:

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole‘s daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!