Football betting: Premier League - Blackburn vs Chelsea

Chelsea can get their Premier League title train back on the rails on Sunday afternoon when they take on Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Click here for your free £10 to bet on the Premier League with Ladbrokes The Blues shook off the disappointment of losing to Arsenal last weekend by beating Liverpool 2-0 in midweek and that confidence-boosting Carling Cup success, crowned by another goal from Andriy Shevchenko, will serve them well when they travel north for Sky's live afternoon game. Ewood Park is not a pleasant place to visit at this time of year, as Arsenal discovered on Tuesday, when they were forced into extra-time before knocking out Mark Hughes's side, who had fought back from 2-0, missed several chances at 2-2 and then succumbed to Eduardo's sucker punch. Having drawn 1-1 at Stamford Bridge earlier this season, Chelsea know exactly how tough a prospect Rovers are and with David Bentley providing excellent crosses for the in-form Roque Santa Cruz to dispatch, the hosts will fancy their 7/2 chances. Blackburn's problem, though, is their tendency to leak early goals. They came back to level terms after going two down against the Gunners and they went three down at Wigan before that, only to end up on the losing side on both occasions. They are missing injured Dutch defender Andre Ooijer and a repeat of their recent spate of defensive errors against Chelsea will not be so easily forgiven even if, at the other end, Cruz and Benni McCarthy will both feel confident of beating Petr Cech, who is without the protection of the injured John Terry, and who has also made uncharacteristic mistakes of late. Nonetheless, Chelsea know they need to start winning to keep their Premier League hopes alive, and Andriy Shevchenko has finally found his scoring boots again. Don't be surprised to see goals aplenty in this match as two suspect defences and in-form strikers on either side set about their business with plenty of purpose. Verdict: 2pts Chelsea @ 10/11 (Paddy Power); 2pts over 2.5 goals @ 10/11 (Paddy Power); 2pts Roque Santa Cruz anytime goalscorer @ 3/1, 2pts Andriy Shevchenko anytime goalscorer @ 17/10 (Paddy Power) Click here for your free £10 to bet on the Premier League with Ladbrokes