Carlo Ancelotti’s side have not been convincing ever since they blew away Arsenal 2-0 back in February – that’s now only 4 wins in their last 8 matches in all competitions – and there is no doubt that injuries to key players are hurting them badly. Much has been made of the absence of Ashley Cole – and his width is crucial in this narrow Chelsea side – but arguably the bigger loss is that of Michael Essien. Michael Ballack and John Obi Mikel simply can’t match the industry of the Ghanaian and results firmly back this theory up. In the 15 Premiership games before his lay-off, Chelsea had won 12 and kept clean sheets in 9 of them. In the 14 fixtures since his injury, the Blues have won just 8 and only shut the opposition out on 4 occasions. The visitors midfield simply had no answer to Inter Milan’s excellent defensive display in midweek and though Rovers are not in the same class as Jose Mourinho’s team, they will provide stern opposition.

Sam Allardyce has guided his team to 4 successive home wins and in the 25 league games at Ewood Park he has overseen, the hosts have lost just 3. Ignore the 2 recent defeats at Liverpool (2-1) and Tottenham (3-1) – Big Sam is yet to devise a successful away formula and 28 of their 34 points this term have come on home turf. The bigger concern for home backers are injuries to Paul Robinson and skipper Ryan Nelsen – they will be missed against a Chelsea side which, for all their faults, have only failed to score once in the league this season.

There may be some sort of Chelsea ‘backlash’ but there’s no way odds of around 4/9 on an away win interest me here. Some decent opportunities on the asian handicap are available and the one which particularly catches the eye is laying the away side with a -1/-1.5 deficit at a shade of odds-against. Any result other than a Chelsea victory is a winner for you, while even a 1 goal away win gives you a half stakes profit. It’s hard to see the Blues running away with this and we need to take them on at the prices available.