Preview:Blackburn Rovers vs Sheffield United - prediction, team news, lineups

Both aiming to escape the bottom three of the Championship table, Blackburn Rovers and Sheffield United will do battle at Ewood Park on Tuesday.

The hosts fell to 22nd spot following a defeat at the weekend, while their visitors moved within a point by recording their second win of the season on Saturday.

Match preview

Blackburn Rovers return to action on Tuesday aiming to end a four-match winless run in the Championship and escape the relegation spots in England's second tier.

After earning six points from the first five Championship outings of their first full season under the management of Valerien Ismael, they saw a game against Ipswich Town postponed, in which they led with 10 minutes remaining, and have since added just one more point to their tally in four attempts.

On the back of that disappointment, the Lancashire outfit went on to suffer back-to-back defeats at the hands of Charlton Athletic and Swansea City, before heading into the recent international break on the back of a 1-1 draw with Stoke City.

Aiming to bounce back to winning ways on their return at the weekend, Ismael's men visited league leaders Coventry City and left empty-handed, as Victor Torp broke the deadlock for their hosts around the hour mark and Brandon Thomas-Asante sealed a 2-0 home win.

Having now dropped to 22nd spot after nine Championship outings, with only Tuesday's visitors recording fewer than their seven goals, Blackburn Rovers will be desperate to kickstart a reversal of their fortunes and climb up the table on home turf.

The away side, meanwhile, head to Ewood Park with some renewed optimism, having enjoyed a victory at the weekend after a dismal start to the Championship campaign.

After falling short of a return to the Premier League in the playoff final last time around, Sheffield United opted to replace Chris Wilder with Ruben Selles over the summer, but Wilder would return to the dugout in mid-September after they lost each of their first five league outings.

The returning boss failed to inspire an instant turnaround at Bramall Lane, though, as his first four games back at the helm before the October international break produced just three points, courtesy of a first victory of the season away at Oxford United, before they suffered 2-1 and 1-0 defeats at home to Southampton and away at Hull City respectively.

Then heading back into action after the break at the bottom of the table on just three points from nine matches, the Blades hosted Watford on Saturday and made a crucial return to winning ways, as Callum O'Hare's goal on the hour mark made the only difference between the sides.

That victory did, at least, see Sheffield United move off the foot of the division and above rivals Sheffield Wednesday, and now trailing Tuesday's hosts by one point and two teams by two points, they will go in search of consecutive wins for the first time this season to continue bouncing back from their poor start and move out of the relegation zone.

Blackburn Rovers Championship form:

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Sheffield United Championship form:

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Team News

Blackburn Rovers will remain without Hayden Carter, Moussa Baradji, Harry Pickering and key man and captain Todd Cantwell on Tuesday due to injuries, while defender Lewis Miller is a fresh concern after being forced off with a back issue in Saturday's loss to Coventry.

Ismael may opt to revert to a back-four system for the visit of the Blades, meaning Scott Wharton and Sean McLoughlin will partner up in the centre of the defence if Miller is not deemed fit.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman and Sondre Tronstad should again line up in the engine room, while Andri Gudjohnsen and Yuki Ohashi will likely compete to lead the attack.

Sheffield United are again unable to call on Oliver Arblaster, Tahith Chong and Ben Godfrey on Tuesday, while Tom Davies and talisman Gustavo Hamer also missed the weekend's meeting with Watford and will not be fit for the trip to Ewood Park.

Chris Wilder will field a similar starting XI from that victory at the weekend, with Japhet Tanganga, Mark McGuinness and Ben Mee bound to continue in a back three and Chiedozie Ogbene and Sam McCallum set to keep wing-back spots.

Sydie Peck and Djibril Soumare should continue their midfield partnership in the absence of Davies and Hamer, while Andre Brooks will hope to displace Louie Barry and join Saturday's scorer Callum O'Hare in support of striker Tyrese Campbell.

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:

Toth; Alebiosu, McLoughlin, Wharton, Ribeiro; Tronstad, Gardner-Hickman; Hedges, Kargbo, Morishita; Ohashi

Sheffield United possible starting lineup:

Cooper; Tanganga, McGuinness, Mee; Ogbene, Peck, Soumare, McCallum; O'Hare, Brooks; Campbell

We say: Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Sheffield United

While Sheffield United are still experiencing attacking troubles, Chris Wilder's men certainly have the quality to be at the right end of the table and will hope that Saturday's win is a catalyst for a climb up the division.

We back them to make it consecutive triumphs in a low-scoring contest with an out-of-sorts Blackburn Rovers side.

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