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Accrington Stanley and Blackburn Rovers get their pre-season schedule underway when they square off at Wham Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The two Lancashire outfits are meeting in pre-season for the second consecutive year, with the Rovers snatching a late 2-1 victory last July courtesy of goals from Yuki Ohashi and Makhtar Gueye.
Read our Accrington Stanley vs Blackburn Rovers preview, prediction and betting tips below, while you can also find more of our expert predictions on today's betting tips page.
Accrington Stanley vs Blackburn Rovers key stats
- The last five meetings between Accrington and Blackburn have come in pre-season, with both teams picking up two wins each since 2015.
- There have been fewer than 2.5 goals in four of the last five meetings between Accrington and Blackburn, with a combined seven goals netted across the five matches.
- Accrington closed out the season without a clean sheet in six consecutive games, with four of their last five matches seeing BTTS – Yes.
- Blackburn also failed to keep a clean sheet in their last five games last season, with a combined seven goals conceded across the five matches.
Accrington Stanley vs Blackburn Rovers: Aiming to move on from turbulent league campaigns
Accrington Stanley vs Blackburn Rovers — Tale of the Tape
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| N/A (EFL League Two) | Position | N/A (Championship) |
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| N/A | Clean Sheets | N/A |
| N/A | Home / Away Rank | N/A |
It was another underwhelming outing in the English fourth tier for Accrington Stanley as they finished 16th in the table — their third consecutive bottom-half finish since relegating from the League One back in 2023.
John Doolan’s men managed 14 wins from their 46 League Two outings, failing to win any of their closing six games, with a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Oldham Athletic in the season finale summing up another forgettable league run.
For a second consecutive season, Accrington’s struggles were owing to a lack of firepower in attack, with just 47 goals in their 46 games last term — only Barrow (45), Crawley Town (44), Shrewsbury Town (42) and Harrogate Town (39) managed fewer.
However, Doolan’s side have bolstered their squad with four new signings, including experienced striker Cole Stockton and Spanish winger Stefan Mols, who racked up nine goal involvements in his final 14 games for Tamworth.
As for Blackburn, they will return to the drawing board in pre-season after a hugely disappointing 2025-26 Championship campaign, where they finished 20th in the league standings, five points above the dotted line.
The Rovers managed just 10 league wins after 37 matches and were on course to drop into League One for the first time since 2018, before picking themselves up in clutch time under interim boss Michael O’Neill.
With relegation knocking on their door, Blackburn went unbeaten in seven of their closing nine matches, claiming three wins and four draws while scoring eight goals and keeping three clean sheets to salvage their season.
Following O’Neill’s exit from the helm of affairs, Blackburn have turned to Tony Mowbray, with the 62-year-old head coach returning for his second stint in charge having departed Ewood Park in 2022.
Mowbray is well familiar with the Lancashire outfit, having coached the club in 267 matches between February 2017 and June 2022, picking up 108 wins and 69 draws over the five-year period.
Accrington Stanley vs Blackburn Rovers form guide & betting tips
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Whispers’ prediction: Accrington Stanley 1-2 Blackburn Rovers
Off the back of a turbulent 2025-26 campaign, both Accrington Stanley and Blackburn Rovers will be keen to kick off pre-season with encouraging results and this should make for an exciting contest at Wham Stadium.
Accrington have made moves in the market in a bid to strengthen their squad, but the Rovers remain superior and more experienced on paper, which should translate to the pitch this weekend.
We are tipping Blackburn to come away with the win in an end-to-end contest, and with the Rovers failing to keep a clean sheet in their last five games, we also fancy BTTS – Yes.
With each of the last five meetings between the teams having fewer than five bookings, under 4.5 cards is another tempting punt, while we pick 1-2 from the score market.
> Over 2.5 goals – Yes | Likelihood: Possible
> BTTS – Yes | Likelihood: Possible
> Under 4.5 cards | Likelihood: Possible