Blackburn Rovers vs. West Brom preview, team news and h2h: Alebiosu set to battle against Maja

Easter Monday brings one of the most significant fixtures in the Championship relegation battle to Ewood Park, as Blackburn Rovers host West Bromwich Albion, Afrik Foot reports.

The fixture is a six-pointer that could go a long way toward deciding which clubs are playing in the third tier next season.

Blackburn Rovers currently rank 19th while West Bromwich Albion hold 20th position.

Two sides separated by the narrowest of margins and the heaviest of stakes as the season enters its decisive final stretch.

Match Preview: Blackburn Rovers vs West Brom

For Blackburn, the weeks ahead were never going to be straightforward, but the international break at least provided a moment to draw breath.

Ryan Alebiosu, the Super Eagles right-back, pointed to the back-to-back positive results before the international break as proof that the dressing room mentality is sound: a draw against Middlesbrough and a win over Millwall in the game immediately before the break.

Alebiosu described the break as giving the squad “a bit of a breather” after a long run of fixtures full of “ups and a lot of downs,” with seven important games now remaining to define the club’s season.

Blackburn sits four points ahead of the bottom three, which offers some comfort but absolutely no room for complacency against a West Brom side that has found its feet at precisely the wrong time for Rovers.

West Brom’s turnaround under James Morrison has been one of the more compelling stories of the Championship’s run-in.

The Baggies ended a run of 13 league games without victory by beating promotion-chasing Hull City 3-0, moving up to 21st in the table with eight games remaining.

West Brom remain four points above the relegation zone in 20th after extending their unbeaten run to five games under Morrison.

A 2-2 draw with Wrexham on Good Friday, in which Isaac Price’s deflected free kick and Josh Maja’s penalty put Albion 2-0 up before the visitors fought back, extended that run despite the dropped points.

Head to Head: Blackburn Rovers vs West Brom

The current head-to-head record between the two clubs stands at Blackburn Rovers six wins, West Bromwich Albion six wins and five draws.

In their last five meetings, both teams have won twice with one draw, reflecting a fixture that changes hands regularly with no dominant side.

West Brom hold the current bragging rights in this fixture, having beaten Blackburn 1-0 on the opening day of this season.

The pattern of the recent head-to-head suggests a tight, competitive encounter is the most likely outcome, precisely the kind of game where individual moments, set pieces and fine margins decide the result.

Team News

Blackburn Rovers

Hayden Carter, Andri Gudjohnsen, Sondre Tronstad, Lewis Miller, George Pratt and Ryan Hedges are all unavailable through injury.

It is hoped Hedges can return in mid-April after suffering a broken leg on New Year’s Day, but he will not be rushed back into action.

Alebiosu, the Super Eagles right-back, is expected to start and will be one of the key figures in O’Neill’s defensive setup.

The 24-year-old has contributed one goal and three assists in 21 league appearances this season, and a five-million-euro bid from Serie A club Genoa was rejected by Blackburn in January, underlining how highly rated he is.

Alebiosu was electric against Millwall before the break, serving as a reminder of why the likes of Genoa, Everton and Wolfsburg were all linked with a move for him during the winter window.

His battle with Josh Maja along West Brom’s left side gives the fixture a compelling Nigerian subplot, with both players capable of influencing the result significantly.

Predicted Blackburn Rovers XI (3-4-2-1): Toth; Atcheson, Warton, McLoughlin; Alebiosu, Forshaw, Baradji, Pickering; Cantwell, Morishita; Ohashi.

West Brom

West Brom are missing Mikey Johnston and Karlan Grant, who are significant absences for Morrison as he looks to maintain the momentum of the unbeaten run.

Maja opened the scoring against Hull in the 3-0 win, turning in Jed Wallace’s cross, and the Nigerian forward’s return to goalscoring form has been one of the more encouraging individual storylines of Morrison’s early reign.

Maja’s contract expires in the summer of 2026, and his future remains uncertain. Decisions on an extension are likely to hinge on what division West Brom find themselves in next season

Predicted West Brom XI (4-4-2): Griffiths; Imray, Phillips, Campbell, Styles; Jimoh-Aloba, Molumby, Price, Diakite; Maja, Heggeboe.

The Managers

Michael O’Neill arrived at Ewood Park under extraordinary circumstances and has brought a level of pragmatism and experience that Blackburn badly needed after the departure of Valerien Ismael.

Appointed on February 13, 2026, on a job-share deal with the Irish FA, O’Neill took to the dugout the following day in a 3-1 win over Queens Park Rangers.

The dual-role controversy has been the story of his tenure so far, with rival clubs raising concerns and the EFL itself being contacted, but O’Neill has made clear he is focused entirely on keeping Rovers in the Championship, and the four points collected against Millwall and Middlesbrough before the break showed his methods are having an effect.

Whether he can squeeze enough from a depleted squad over the final seven games is the question that will define his short Blackburn career.

James Morrison needs no introduction to anyone connected with West Brom.

The former midfielder and club icon returned to the Hawthorns as caretaker manager after Eric Ramsay’s departure and has transformed the atmosphere around a squad that looked resigned to its fate.

It was a dream first win for Morrison back in charge of his beloved club when the relegation candidates beat Hull 3-0, and West Brom looked a different animal to the one that had been so toothless and tame in the weeks before.

The unbeaten run now stands at five games under Morrison, and the identity and belief he has restored make Albion a genuine threat to anyone in the bottom half of the Championship.

Tactical Preview

O’Neill is expected to set Blackburn up in a compact 4-4-2, prioritising defensive organisation and making Ewood Park as difficult to play at as possible.

Alebiosu’s role is crucial to how Rovers can hurt West Brom going the other way; his ability to drive forward from right-back and deliver quality into the final third gives Blackburn an outlet that their limited attacking resources elsewhere struggle to provide.

The wide areas will be contested fiercely, with Maja looking to operate on the left side of West Brom’s attack in a position that directly challenges Alebiosu’s defensive concentration.

Morrison favours a 4-4-2 with Wallace providing width and end product from the right, and Price operating in the central areas where his creativity and energy can unpick low defensive blocks.

The key tactical battle will be in midfield, where Blackburn needs to restrict Price’s time and space to prevent him from linking the play effectively between the defence and the Maja-Heggeboe partnership.

West Brom’s unbeaten run has been built on togetherness and collective work rate rather than individual brilliance, and that mentality could prove equally important away from home at Ewood Park in a game that neither side can afford to lose.