Preview: Blackburn Rovers vs Charlton Athletic - prediction, team news, lineups

Both looking to end their three-game winless runs, Blackburn Rovers and Charlton Athletic clash at Ewood Park in the Championship on Sunday afternoon.

The Rovers suffered a home defeat to Wrexham to commence 2026, whilst the Addicks picked up a respectable point against the league leaders in the capital.

Match preview

After missing out on a spot in the playoffs by just two points during the 2024-25 campaign, Blackburn Rovers are battling down at the wrong end of the rankings this time around amid a run of one win from their last nine fixtures.

The Rovers' winless streak during the festive period extended to a worrying three matches on New Year's Day, when a three-game undefeated run at Ewood Park came to a sobering end at the hands of newly-promoted Wrexham.

With first-half strikes from Sam Smith and Oliver Rathbone downing Blackburn last time out, they are now occupying a lowly 20th spot in the Championship standings, only three points above a resurgent Norwich City side in 22nd.

Suffering their seventh Ewood Park loss in the second tier to date, only the aforementioned Canaries (8) and Sheffield Wednesday (9) have fallen to defeat on more occasions than the Rovers at their respective homes.

Only the League One-bound Wednesday (4) have collected fewer than Blackburn's nine points from home contests across the division, with Valerien Ismael's troops scoring a second-lowest tally of 11 goals in 12 home games.

Despite tasting success in just one of their past 10 matches since the middle of November, Charlton Athletic are taking a heavy dose of positivity into the New Year schedule following a share of the spoils with Coventry City earlier in the week.

It appeared as if the Addicks were on course for a third consecutive league loss when Ellis Simms fired the pace-setting Sky Blues ahead after only three minutes, but a maiden goal for Joe Rankin-Costello forced a split of the honours.

Earning just the single point since Boxing Day, Nathan Jones's men have fallen further down the Championship table to 19th position, 12 points from the playoff picture and four points above the dreaded drop.

Winless across their last seven away matches, Charlton will be searching for a change in fortunes on Sunday, when they are striving to record their third away triumph of the term - only Sheffield Wednesday (1) and Portsmouth (1) have managed fewer in the division.

The poor home form of the hosts and the Addicks' record at Ewood Park hints at the possibility of a memorable outing for the Londoners, who won on their most recent visit to the Lancashire ground in August 2019 courtesy of strikes from Ben Purrington and Lyle Taylor.

Blackburn Rovers Championship form:

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Charlton Athletic Championship form:

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Team News

Blackburn remain without the services of Ryan Alebiosu, who made it through the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeria.

The Rovers' attacking options are reduced further by the absence of leading goalscorer Andri Gudjohnsen, who suffered a hamstring injury in December.

There are also issues for Ismael to fight against at the back, with the likes of Hayden Carter (calf) occupying spots in the medical room.

Onto his fourth Championship employer in eight years, Onel Hernandez is available for Charlton because of a muscular injury.

A major hit for the Addicks in League One last term, Matt Godden is yet to feature in the second tier due to a knee problem.

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:

Pears; Miller, McLoughlin, Pratt; Litherland, Baradiji, Tronstad, Hedges, Cantwell; Henriksson, Ohashi

Charlton Athletic possible starting lineup:

Kaminski; Burke, Jones, Bell; Coventry, Bree, Berry, Rankin-Costello, Campbell; Leaburn, Kelman

We say: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Charlton Athletic

Amid an injury and availability crisis, Blackburn are set to struggle at their Ewood Park base once again on Sunday.

Charlton will be buoyed by their draw against the division's pacesetters last time out and should be good enough for another share of the points in this one.

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