Matt Le Tissier expects Mark Hughes and Blackburn to continue their fantastic start at Fulham on Super Sunday.
Fulham v Blackburn
3.30pm, Sunday, Sky Sports 1
They have not been getting too many headlines, but what a cracking start Blackburn have made.
Mark Hughes has done a fantastic job. He hasn't spent the kind of dosh that other managers in the Premier League have, but here they are sitting pretty in seventh place.
I have been very impressed. They just look like a decent side. They don't concede that many goals and they do play a decent, high-tempo passing game.
And going forward they are stronger than they've ever been. To have Benni McCarthy back scoring goals - and smiling - again makes all the difference.
I think he might have thought he was off to Chelsea in the summer and was maybe a little off-key at the start of the season. Now he is back doing what he does best.
This season though, he is not the only one getting goals. Roque Santa Cruz has been a revelation. He's big, strong, he knows where the goal is and he puts himself about a but.
What I also like about him is we haven't heard too much from him - he just seems to be keeping his head down and going about his business.
Maybe it's because he had a bit of a rough time in Germany towards the end, but I do remember him being hailed as a real starlet when he was young, so Sparky clearly has a good memory!
Actually, he is clearly an astute manager, in every respect. What impresses me most about this Blackburn side is that they are so well-organised. Even if they do lose players through injury - and they have - whoever comes in knows his job. That is down to the manager and it is no wonder they have tied him down to a new deal.
Not long ago Lawrie Sanchez's own future seemed to be in doubt. The simple reason is that his side just can't hold on to a lead.
Confidence
I am not even going to begin to work out how many points they would have if they had not thrown things away so often. Even at Sunderland against 10 men, they couldn't cling on.
It just comes down to a lack of confidence. I have been there myself plenty of times and it's a horrible cycle to get stuck in. Once it happens a couple of times, you automatically drop deeper and deeper as the game goes on. You do it to try and avoid conceding a goal, but all you are really doing is inviting the opposition in.
What makes it all the more frustrating for Fulham is it is not like they are getting mullered by sides either. It's just those late lapses that are costing them
I have to say that I did expect them to struggle because I wasn't impressed with the calibre of player they bought in over the summer when Sanchez was given the sort of money that Chris Coleman could only have dreamed of.
Hameur Bouazza has done OK, and Diomansy Kamara has looked good in flashes, but I haven't seen anything to make my change my mind about Fulham this season.
And quite why David Healy can't reproduce his international form is a strange one. You would have thought that playing with better players week in, week out, would make it easier for a goalscorer.
Maybe he is more comfortable being the main man with Northern Ireland and doesn't feel as important when surrounded by players who might be better than him.
I don't know, but Lawrie Sanchez would love to have him scoring goals again. He would also love to have a few more experienced heads at the back, just in case they do take the lead again.
Le Tiss predicts
AWAY WIN - Looking at this I just think Blackburn will be too strong. Fulham always push sides all the way, especially at Craven Cottage, but for me Blackburn will have too much quality going forward. Even away from home they have the players to play on the break and I can only see them winning this. Maybe even 2-0.
Matt's main man
TUGAY - A player I love. For me, even at 36, he is as good a passer as anyone in the Premier League - and he is capable of hammering home the odd belter. He doesn't always start games, but Hughes knows he can trust him either to come on and open the opposition up if they are chasing the game or keep hold of the ball if they are in front. Just a fabulous player.
