ASTON VILLA vs BLACKBURN ROVERS - MATCH PREVIEW

By Ryan Ghee
August 26 2005

Aston Villa will play host to Blackburn Rovers tomorrow with their sights set on a first League victory of the season. David O'Leary's men have only picked up 2 points from their first three games so a win is desperately needed.

Aston Villa team news: New signing Milan Baros is set to make his debut with Phillips and Angel battling it out to start alongside the Czech international. Jlloyd Samuel has recovered from his knee injury so he is expected to start at left back. Nolberto Solano will start his three-game ban so Ulises De la Cruz will probably start on the right wing. Delaney, Berger and Laursen are still injured whilst Lee Hendrie will serve the final match of his three-game suspension.

Blackburn Rovers team news: Lucas Neill and Paul Dickov will miss the trip to Villa Park through suspension. Todd and Shefki Kuqi will undergo late fitness tests but Craig Bellamy is a definate absentee.

History of this fixture: Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers have met a total of 150 times with Villa winning 60 of the matches, Blackburn winning 57 and 33 of the games ending in a draw. The Villans have had the better in recent years, winning 4 of the last 6 encounters. Last season Aston Villa won 1-0 at home and at Ewood Park the two sides fought out a 2-2 draw.

Match betting: Aston Villa win - 5/6
Blackburn win - 11/4
Draw - 11/5
(According to Ladbrokes.com)