Clarets v Rovers Match Preview.
Turf Moor, Burnley, BB10 4BX.
Kick-off – 12.30. Sunday, 13th November 2022.

I hardly need to remind everyone that on Remembrance Sunday of all days Vincent Kompany’s top of the table Clarets entertain despised local rivals Blackburn Rovers. Before anyone from the woke brigade chastises me for such a sentiment, let me assure them that the feeling is more than mutual.

This derby game perhaps more than any other brings together two founder members of the Football League formed in 1888 whose mutual loathing needs no affirmation from me. The footballing history books can catalogue a whole record of the ups and downs and meetings of both sets of clubs, but Sunday will be almost cataclysmic for the losing side.

It is not so much the fact that the Championship’s first placed team Burnley play second placed Blackburn this fixture goes way beyond that. Local bragging rights for the next 6 months secured for the victor, the truth that the two grounds are only 15 miles apart and the inevitable shared supporter workplace can be a very unhappy place for the losing set of either club’s fans. The 3 points that are at stake here seem trivial in comparison to the misery a losing fan will endure over the coming months.

Thanks to a late brace from Annas Zaroury, Burnley saw off an obdurate Crawley Town on Tuesday night in the EFL Cup, which may have helped sooth some of the pain of last Saturday’s 5-2 hammering at Bramhall Lane. Blackburn Rovers will no doubt be euphoric following their crazy 10-9 penalty shootout win at the London Stadium against West Ham United. Burnley v Blackburn Rovers for a place in the last eight of the EFL Cup anyone?

The Rovers remarkably will arrive at Turf Moor with a record of not having drawn a game this season in the Championship. The Danish Rovers manager Jon Dahl Tomasson has also guided his Blackburn team to six consecutive league wins on the bounce.

Vincent Kompany has a difficult job on his hands on Sunday to stop this blue and white runaway train in its tracks, a home win and the Clarets will go five points clear of their neighbours. A loss is unimaginable for any self-respecting Burnley fan.

On the injury front, the Clarets are waiting for a late call on their leading scorer Jay Rodriguez but will remain without long term casualties Ashley Westwood, Scott Twine and Darko Churlinov. Blackburn have no new injuries to report for the big match on Sunday following their dramatic win over the Hammers with what was ostensibly their reserve side.

One’s to watch: It’s impossible to look beyond Stoke born Ben Brereton Diaz who qualifies to play for Chile because of his mother’s birth right. Diaz came off the bench on Wednesday night to score yet another top corner screamer to send the game into penalties. Burnley will need to be on their full metal to keep this lad quiet on Sunday.

For the Clarets, lively right winger Manuel Benson is playing with extreme confidence at present, while left winger Annas Zaroury has unquestionably found his goalscoring boots at Turf Moor and will certainly provide the Rover’s right full back with a challenging game come Sunday lunchtime evening. The stage is now set for what should be an exhilarating game of Championship football.

Verdict: “Who wants it the most will win it” is the usual manager’s derby game motto but I have a gut feeling this game will end in a 2-2 stalemate. For both teams this will mean no harm done, then rest up for a month because of the idiocy of FIFA match scheduling in Qatar and let’s all hope England can bring home the World Cup. We can but dream#.

Footnote: On the most poignant of days, I mention in my own despatches the deaths of two of our footballers killed in the Great War - 1914-18. Wilfred Toman the ex-Burnley striker who was killed in action May 2nd, 1917, by enemy shelling of the trenches, a fate shared by ex-Blackburn Rovers midfield player Edwin (Eddie) Latheron who was killed in action 14th October 1917. Rest in Peace both. I fervently hope both sets of our fans can enjoy the game on Sunday, but equally respect the men and women who gave their lives so we can enjoy the spice of yet another Clarets/Rovers derby this Remembrance weekend. Game on.

From: The Editor’s Chair – Clarets Mad.

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