Pulis led the Potters to an 11th-placed finish in the Premier League last season, with Blackburn three points above them in 10th.
The two sides meet at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday and Pulis sees it as one of the games that will be crucial to deciding who will be comfortably clear of danger and who will be battling to beat the drop.
"Outside the top eight to nine clubs, I think the rest of us are fighting for our lives," said the Stoke boss.
"I'm putting Everton in there as well. Although they have had a poor start, I still expect them to come charging through as the season progresses.
"There's not that much difference between the rest of us."
Blackburn arrive in the Potteries one point and five places ahead of Stoke after a solid start to the season.
Pulis' men won the corresponding fixture 3-0 last season while claiming a 0-0 draw at Ewood Park and he is confident Rovers will provide another stren test.
"It will be a difficult game," he said. "We had two really good games against them last year and they've started well.
"I watched them a couple of weeks ago at Manchester City (1-1). They did ever so well and could even have won that game."
The latest international break follows the weekend's fixtures so Pulis is eager to claim a positive result.
"If you don't you are stewing for a couple of weeks so if we could get a win then the fortnight would go a lot easier for me," he added.
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