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Men’s Football Blackburn bring Branthwaite to bolster defence

EVERTON’S Jarrad Branthwaite has joined Blackburn Rovers on loan for the rest of the 2020-21 season in a move which bolsters the Lancashire club’s defence as they make a push for the play-off places.

Injuries to other defenders mean the 18-year-old centreback could make his debut in tomorrow’s Championship fixture against Stoke City.

Tony Mowbray’s side have impressed at times so far this season with a possession-oriented game which wouldn’t look out of place in the top tier of English football.

Their attack is among the best in the Championship. They lead the league for goals scored, shots taken in the penalty area and total expected goals (xG) — a metric which judges how likely a team is to score from the shots they have.

But they have a mid-table defensive record, and it’s for this reason they currently sit 11th in the table, much lower than their attacking play warrants.

The addition of Branthwaite should go some way to solving this problem.

Signing such a young player on loan from a Premier League club is never guaranteed to be a successful move, but the left-footed Cumbrian’s displays to date suggest he should fit well in Mowbray’s set-up.

“We’re three centre-halves down with [Scott] Wharton, [Derrick] Williams and [Daniel] Ayala all unavailable and it’s an area where we need to balance off,” the Blackburn boss said.

“He was somebody we were aware of when he was at Carlisle and he’s someone who I’ve watched and who I like.”

Branthwaite is a tall, rangy defender well-equipped to win aerial duels if required but also good on the ball. The latter will be handy as he’s coming into a team that are second in the league for average possession per game.

His left-footedness will offer balance to the Blackburn defence. He is adept at carrying the ball out from the back as well as finding a forward pass, which could help against opposition sides who sit deep.

He is joining a team that isn’t afraid to blood young players, and one which has the fifth-youngest average age in the Championship.

These aren’t all teenagers though, with many in their early to mid-20s and approaching the peak of their careers.

One such player is striker Adam Armstrong who is again showing why he was originally so highly rated at his hometown club, Newcastle.

He is now 142 appearances into his Balckburn career, having previously spent time on loan at Coventry, Barnsley and Bolton.

Still only 23, Armstrong is the type of striker you can easily imagine playing in the Premier League and is the main reason Blackburn’s attack is so busy.

He leads the Championship goalscoring charts with 16 goals from 22 games and has taken far and away the most shots of any player in the league with 110, 38 more than the next player in this list, Dominic Solanke of Bournemouth.

One player who will play in the Premier League sooner rather than later is Blackburn’s Liverpool loanee, Harvey Elliott. 

The 17-year-old attacker is one of two teenagers, along with Tyrhys Dolan, to feature regularly in the side this season, and Elliott already stands out a mile at this level.

He has six assists so far this season (three for Armstrong) with the underlying data singling him out as one of the most creative and progressive players in the division along with Norwich’s Emi Buendia. Another Blackburn player, Joe Rothwell, isn’t far behind them.

Branthwaite’s arrival means Rovers now have two of the most talented young players from the Premier League’s Merseyside clubs. Their quality, combined with the rest of this promising squad, gives them an opportunity to push for the play-offs.

For Liverpool and Everton themselves, it’s a chance to see how these players cope with the rigours of the Championship and regular football at a high level.

Mowbray commented that Branthwaite’s parent club have high hopes.

“Everton see him as a young boy who can be a big player for them somewhere down the line,” he said.

“But these youngsters need experience and need to play in a team where the manager is shouting at them.

“He can distribute the ball from the back and is very powerful. His mobility is good and he’s really smooth. The attributes he possesses suggests to me that he will help us.”

Blackburn face Stoke City at Ewood Park tomorrow, and Branthwaite is expected to drop straight into the squad.

And given the injury problems they have in defence, it’s likely he will slot straight into the starting XI, joining Elliott.

The pair could have a big future on Merseyside, but their contributions in the present could see them remembered fondly in Blackburn.

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