Stoke vs Blackburn: Crouch to halt Stoke’s losing streak
Published:Stoke have been on a dreadful run of late but with Peter Crouch in their side they can bounce back to winning ways at home to Blackburn.
The Britannia Stadium has not been the fortress of old this season, with QPR the latest club to perhaps surprisingly leave with three points.
However, not since 2005 have Stoke lost five games on the bounce and they can avoid emulating this unwanted run against Steve Kean’s strugglers.
It is 4/5 in the Premier League odds that Stoke beat Blackburn.
Blackburn have been performing well without winning of late and will take confidence from their own displays and the loss of form of Stoke.
But they have not won an away game since December last year, which is a run that Kean will be quick to want to end now that he has signed a contract improvement.
Blackburn’s odds are 7/2 to triumph, but to do so they will have to end a barren streak of five games without scoring against Stoke.
A more tempting bet is to back the draw at 5/2 as Rovers have drawn their previous three away Premier League games.
Tony Pulis’ men should have no such troubles finding the scoresheet, with the likes of Crouch and Jonathan Walters at their disposal.
Crouch has scored in his last four appearances against Blackburn and is 5/1 to open the scoring, while being 6/4 to strike within the 90 minutes.
If Crouch does score at some point this will prove good news for punters getting involved in first goalscorer betting as all losing first goalscorer bets will be refunded if the England striker finds the net against Blackburn again.
Meanwhile, Walters has netted in his last three appearances at the Britannia and can also be backed at 6/4 to strike at any time in the 90 minutes.
