Blackburn take on Bolton tonight (8pm KO, Live on Sky Sports 1) in a Lancashire derby with higher stakes than ever before, and the visitors look value at 13/5 to come out on top.
Defeat for either side would condemn them to the bottom of the table at Christmas, and for Blackburn boss Steve Kean it is likely to lead to his instant dismissal.
Kean insists he has the backing of the club’s owners, but a return of 32 points from 37 games is shocking and he is hanging on to his job by the skin of his teeth.
The fans have already lost patience and vented their anger in no uncertain terms, and this has become a game which could well be Kean’s last.
Bookmakers make him around 1/2 shot to go next in the premiership sack race, and come tomorrow I think that those who have taken the odds on could be collecting.
The stats reveal that Blackburn have actually won six and lost just one of the last nine Premier League meetings with Bolton, so many will argue that they will come out on top again
However they have won just one of their last 11 PL games, and have failed to keep a clean sheet in 19 games – conceding 40 goals in the process.
Their opponets are also in dire straits, and no club in top-flight history has avoided relegation after losing as many of their opening 16 matches as Bolton have.
It really is going to come to who is up for it most on the night, and in what is a coin toss I will take Bolton to triumph at 13/2 with Boylesports and Victor Chandler.