Venue: Ewood Park Thursday, January 14th 2010 Kick-Off:19:30 Subscribe to Sky Now

Blackburn Rovers play host to in form Aston Villa later today in this Semi Final Carling Cup Fixture, which can be seen Live on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports HD, with a 7:30ppm (GMT) Kick Off Time.

Déjà vu is a word that can probably best describe this Carling Cup Semi Final clash between Blackburn and Aston Villa, as both of these teams were engaged in battle last time out in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup. Aston Villa emerged from that game as convincing 3-1 winners on home soil, but both teams were missing key players who were rested in preperation for tonights big game in mind and with Blackburn now having home advantage a similar scoreline is hard to see.

Blackburn reached the Semi Final of the Carling Cup after a nail biting penalty shoot out victory over current Premiership leaders Chelsea and that will no doubt have inspired all the players heading into this important game. However, Blackburn have had a very difficult Season so far and are only 3pts clear of the relegation dog fight that is sure to start in the coming weeks. The question has to be asked "What is more important to Blackburn Rovers Football Club?" To reach the Final of the Carling Cup ? or survive to fight another year in the Premiership ? Only Sam Allardyce can answer that question and as I dont have his phone number we shall just have to assume that the latter must take more of a precedent.

Aston Villa are playing the kind of football that Martin O'Neill will have no doubt of envisioned when he took up the reigns of Aston Villa Manager way back on the 4th August 2006. The team contain some recognised World Class players like Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and enigmatic winger James Milner all of which will be looking at making the trip with the England National Team to the World Cup Finals in South Africa later this year.

The Villains as they are known to their faithfull supporters, which was derived from Villa Cross church in Aston, will no doubt be looking at the Carling Cup Trophy as a reward for a very productive Season. Currently in the hunt for a Champions League 4th placed finish in the Premiership Table, is obviously Martin Oneills number 1 priority, but im sure he would take getting his hands on the Carling Cup with open arms.

Blackburn Rovers Team News

El-Hadj Diouf will be missing from the Blackburn lineup after being sent off in the 3-1 defeat last week, but Brett Emerton has overcome a groin problem and can expect to be in the starting lineup if not at least a place on the bench. Vincent Grella doesn't look like making the squad however, as he continues to overcome a thigh muscle strain. Ex England International Goal Keeper Paul Robinson who was the hero after the Penalty shoot out against Chelsea will also be looking to put in an eye catching performance as he puts his bid in for the England Number 1 World Cup Goalkeeper spot.

Aston Villa Team News

Wilfred Bouma and Curtis Davies are Martin O'Neills only major injury concerns heading into tonights game and both players look likely to miss out. However, James Milner looks likely to take his place back in the starting lineup despite a bruised toe, there will also be returns for Gabriel Agbonlahor, Richard Dunne and Stiliyan Petrov who were all rested in the FA Cup encounter. John Carew will be vying for the striker role up front having scored in that game, but may face stiff competition from Emile Heskey who is also staking a claim for a trip to South Africa with the England squad.

Match Summary and Recommended Bet Prediction

A lot of people would of been quite shocked to see Blackburn dump out Chelsea in the last round of this tournament and there will certainly be many who think that they have a realistic chance of doing the same to Aston Villa.

However, Aston Villa come into this game playing very well and last weekend's 3-1 victory will have certainly provided the club with a significant boost of confidence. Blackburn have managed to beat Aston Villa just once in their last 8 attempts as a David Dunn last minute penalty secured a 2-1 Premier League win back on the 26th September last year.

Aston Villa have won 6 of their last 8 encounters against Blackburn, 3 of them coming at Ewood Park in their last 4 visits and its very difficult to see the villains not coming away from this game with a 1st leg advantage.

Freebetinfo.com Recommended Bet :- Aston Villa +0 on the Asian Handicap at odds of 1.73 with Canbet.

Dave's Prediction:

Blackburn 1-2 Aston Villa @ 10.00 with Bet365