Aston Villa vs. Blackburn Rovers: Darren Bent Can Fire Villa to Victory

This weekend's meeting between Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers pits two managers, each under pressure and who each started the season in very different ways, against one another.

Alex McLeish was perhaps fortunate that his Aston Villa side were paired with Fulham at Craven Cottage on the opening day of the Barclay's Premier League season, as he was able to escape the glare of expectation and fan pressure for an extra week.

The Scot had a chance to make a good start in his tenure as Villa manager and took it.

A 0-0 draw might not look the most enthralling result, but a clean sheet on the road in his first game in charge was more than Gerard Houllier's Villa side managed in the entirety of last season.

Blackburn boss Steve Kean's opening day, on the other hand, was not so successful.

The match started on a positive note, with Mauro Formica marking his debut with a goal, but Wolves came back into it and took all three points.

An opening game at home is no simple task, as Villa found out when embarking upon the 2008/09 campaign with a 2-0 loss at home to Wigan. However, Kean is a man under pressure and knows he needs to start picking up results as soon as possible.

The game this weekend will be McLeish's Villa Park bow as the Claret and Blues boss will, for the first time, receive more cheers than boos.

He won't have fond memories of the ground, having enjoyed little success on it as Birmingham manager, but that is behind him now and the sole thing he will be thinking about is the Villa.

I, for one, hope he is well received. To begin with, Villa fans were against the potential appointment of the Scot. However, once the deal was finalised and confirmed, fans could sit back and look at it from a more objective stance. The Villa fans have to understand that a continued protest will harm their club, and their club alone. The best thing for their beloved team is to get behind the man who is pulling the strings.

I believe we'll see a different starting 11 at the weekend than the one we saw at Fulham.

The game at Craven Cottage was bound to be a tough contest against a fitter Fulham side.

I do think we'll see Marc Albrighton start in this game, and that it's 50/50 between Fabian Delph and Jean Makoun. While there's no doubt that Delph did well against Fulham, McLeish will want to retain possession on home soil and Makoun is perfect for that. The back four will remain the same and Given looks set to be fit.

Blackburn could be in better shape for the weekend clash, too. Christopher Samba and Ryan Nelsen could return for the match to make the Rovers' defence look substantially meaner, allowing Steven N'Zonzi to move back into his familiar midfield role. They could also hand a debut to new signing Radosav Petrovic.

Whether or not Blackburn return to their first choice defence, I think Aston Villa can win this one. Darren Bent will get plenty of service with a progressively fitter looking Charles N'Zogbia on the wing and I'm tipping him to score twice in a 2-0 victory—although Rovers could sneak one!

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-0 Blackburn Rovers (Bent x2)

You can follow Sam Tighe on Twitter @stighefootball