Blackburn Rovers Vs Chelsea, Saturday 05 November, 1500 GMT

Chelsea will travel to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers, on Saturday, as the Blues face their first real hurdle of the season after back-to-back defeats.

The Londoners are in something of a mini-crisis, if it can be labeled so. Two successive defeats in the league and a draw against European minnows Genk, in the Champions League in midweek, has put the focus back on the Blues bringing an end to their silent amble behind the Manchester clubs.

However, put into context, such was the nature of their match against Arsenal that the scoreline could very easily have been bigger than 5-3 and it could have gone either way. Unfortunately for Chelsea, it went Arsenal's way.

What was more than apparent in the loss was a defensive lapse which manager Andre Villas-Boas will want address as quickly and as effectively as possible. His high-defensive line came in for much criticism, last weekend, and it'll be interesting to see how he sends his team out at Blackburn.

Steve Kean's Blackburn are in all sorts of trouble. With only one win in the league so far this season, which came against a beleaguered Arsenal, Kean has come in for considerable pressure from the fans to the extent that there was talk of Blackburn banning supporters from protesting before the match.

A win is vital for the Rovers, and they were denied one when Grant Holt scored off a debatable spot kick at injury time during their 3-3 draw at Norwich City last week.

Kean would have been hoping for an easier game than Chelsea, but with the Blues coming into this game with their own problems, this could be interesting.

Team News

Blackburn have been boosted with news that David Dunn is available after recovering from a calf injury along with Junior Hoilett, who has overcome a tight hamstring suffered at Norwich.

Chelsea captain John Terry is set to return to the starting line-up after he was rested during the midweek Champions League draw with Genk as an unused substitute. With Didier Drogba serving suspension, Fernando Torres is expected to start up front while John Obi Mikel has recovered from a back problem.

Match Fact

Chelsea haven't lost to Blackburn in their last 10 encounters in the league. The Rovers have only scored twice against Chelsea since 2006, both coming in 2010. This will be the 101 st time the two teams play, with Chelsea winning 41 times to Rovers' 32.

Prediction

Chelsea will look to get back to winning ways and despite what AVB said after the loss at Arsenal, he will look to tighten things up in defence. Blackburn will try and close down space, making the first goal crucial.

Blackburn 0-1 Chelsea