Blackburn Rovers v Wigan Athletic: Can Rovers take their survival fight to the final day?

It is do or die time for Blackburn Rovers tonight. If they beat Wigan Athletic then they have a slim chance of completing the Great Escape pt II. I say slim because waiting for them on the final day of the campaign is Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Not forgetting that Wigan have also really turned on the style in recent weeks.

Wigan and Blackburn shared the points in the reverse fixture in November in a six-goal thriller. At the time the result did neither side any favours, but Wigan's remarkable run of form recently has put them to within one win of safety, yet again.

This fixture has always produced goals. Last season Wigan edged a seven-goal thriller and in December 2007 the Latics came out on top again in an eight-goal feast. There has never been a goalless draw between the two and I can't see that happening tonight. But before Blackburn fans think everything points to a Wigan win, listen up. In the previous 13 league meetings Wigan have only won three and they have all come at home. The Latics have never recorded a victory at Ewood Park, but then they had never beaten Manchester United or defeated Arsenal at the Emirates before this season.

Steve Kean is public Enemy number one in Lancashire. The fans have never taken to him or the Venky's and his position at the club will be untenable if they fail to win tonight. In fact, even if they win a large section of the fans will still want him out.

Meanwhile Wigan boss Roberto Martinez is very much a man in demand and it will be a huge shock if he is still in the dugout at the DW come August. One thing is for sure though, Wigan totally deserve their place at the top table after their exploits in recent weeks. A point tonight will effectively seal that.

Blackburn were not helped yesterday thanks to Cisse's late winner for QPR. Rovers now need to win their final two games of the season and hope that Manchester City can complete their title celebrations against the Hoops at the Etihad. The fact that Chelsea have a huge night in Munich playing on their mind could be a major boost for Rovers. Di Matteo could rest a few key men and take it easy. Or they could all be fighting for places and run riot. However, all this talk about Chelsea could be in vain if they can't see off Wigan tonight.

Blackburn could fall through the trap door tonight, but the panel is split down the middle.

Blackburn Rovers v Wigan Athletic; Kick Off 8pm May 7 2012

Prediction Panel

Arsenal	Don McMahon	1	V	0
Aston Villa	Frank Pattison	2	V	1
Blackburn	Terry Kennedy	2	V	1
Bolton	Dave Blackburn	0	V	0
Chelsea	Joe Tyler	1	V	1
Everton	Chris Goodwin	0	V	2
Fulham	Neil Springate	1	V	2
Liverpool	Mark Williams	0	V	2
Man City	Callum Rothwell	1	V	1
Man Utd	Peter Lee	0	V	1
Newcastle	Michael Stout	2	V	4
Norwich City	Sue Read	2	V	2
QPR	Arjun Swaminathan	TBA	V	TBA
Stoke City	Philip Eccleston	1	V	1
Sunderland	Tony Ratton	1	V	2
Tottenham	Mike Richards	1	V	1
Swansea	Jim White	1	V	3
West Brom	Andy Wakeman	2	V	1
Wigan	Alan Moore	1	V	1
Wolves	Chris Cox	0	V	2
OUR EXPERTS
Writer	Colin Illingworth	2	V	1
Writer	Steve Coulter	2	V	3
Writer	Phil Bundy	0	V	1
Writer	Mitch Waddon	1	V	3
Writer	Matt Turner	TBA	V	TBA
Writer	Chris Pettitt	2	V	1
Writer	Hugh Larkin	1	V	1
Villa fan	Lynette Ranson	TBA	V	TBA
Blackpool fan	Phil Trow	2	V	1
Boro fan	Sue Gardener	1	V	2
Fulham fan	Russell Goldman	1	V	1
Pompey fan	Dan Taylor	2	V	1
Pompey fan	Peter Rendle	2	V	2
West Ham fan	Matthew Beeby	1	V	1
West Ham fan	Nigel Telfer	2	V	1
Editor	Antony Melvin	TBA	V	TBA

Panel Verdict

This could go either way.

Home: 9; Draw: 11; Away: 12. TBA 4

* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d love to hear your views.