Bolton Wanderers vs. Wolves

Bolton Wanderers host Wolves on New Year’s Eve at the Reebok Stadium and Owen Coyle’s side will be desperate to get one over on their fellow Premier League strugglers to end the year on a positive note.

Although perhaps one of the less illustrious fixtures on the roster for December 31, this match could turn into a real dogfight – particularly as both clubs will be coming into the match on the back of difficult Boxing Day assignments, with Bolton hosting Newcastle United and Wolves facing a daunting trip to the Emirates Stadium to play Arsenal.

Purely due to having two home games in a matter of days, Bolton look strong favourites for this clash and they could be on a real high should they manage to dispatch of the Toon Army on December 26.

Assuming that Wolves come away from Arsenal empty handed, Mick McCarthy’s men may find it hard to get themselves up for a scrap and a potentially resurgent Bolton can take full advantage.

Owen Coyle enjoyed a much needed reprieve after his side claimed all three points pre-Christmas at rivals Blackburn Rovers and consequently bought himself a little more time to turn things around at Bolton in the long run.

Despite coming out on top at Ewood Park, Bolton still need to rack up a few wins over the next few weeks if they are to give themselves a decent chance of beating the drop.

Wolves boss McCarthy, who is notorious for his ability to grind out results by getting the best out of his players, will need to keep spirits high over the Christmas and New Year period as Wolves are only a couple of defeats away from being sucked into the relegation zone.

Wolves have been extremely poor away from Molineux however after having already lost six times on the road prior to Christmas and they are hard to fancy at a venue which usually catches a lot of teams out.

Essentially, Bolton’s lowly position in the league has been down to their inability to make home advantage count. Nevertheless, they will have been buoyed by their win at Blackburn and can now take things up to a better standard in front of their home supporters.

And this is the type of home fixture that Bolton need to be winning if they have aspirations of keeping their place in the top flight and moving forward as a club.

Coyle’s men are currently odds against at around 21/20 and that looks a fairly decent bet against such an appalling away from home outfit.

There is not a great likelihood of goals in the game with both teams frontline failing to deliver in the main so far this season – but Bolton can galvanise themselves to tough and grind out a narrow 1-0 win.

Half time/full time bets are often ill advised in most top flight games unless one team is heavy odds on, but a draw/Bolton outcome looks the most predicable scenario should punters wish to push their fancy for the home side a little further.

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07/01/2012     © Frixo 2024