Aston Villa Vs Bolton Wanderers Betting – Saturday 7th November

Aston Villa Vs Bolton Wanderers

Saturday 7^th November – 15:00 GMT

Aston Villa

League Position: 7^th

Recent League Form: LDWDD

It’s shaping up as just another typical season for Villa fans as Aston Villa’s inconsistent tendencies strike again after their second successive draw in the league, their third in four Premiership outings. Some will say that that they were up against Everton, a team who should be challenging the top six this season, but Everton haven’t made the best of starts to the season and, in our opinion, were certainly there for the taking on Saturday. However, Villa passed up the opportunity to record what would have been a big victory over a side that finished above them in the league last season.

Villa did actually do well to get a point come the end as Everton took the lead just before half-time, but it was John Carew, a player who has been struggling to find his goalscoring boots this season and that was actually his first in the league. Villa didn’t really do enough to win the game and the draw was a fair result but the three points was what they needed as they aim to keep up their push for a top four finish.

However, there was some dreadful moments in that game with Everton as Martin O’Neill now has to contemplate playing Bolton Wanderers without some key figures. Carlos Cuellar will miss this game through suspension after seeing red at Goodison Park, a decision which Martin O’Neill can’t appeal, for one reason or another. However, it got worse for the Villa manager as James Milner limped off with a calf injury in that game with the Toffees, while Stiliyan Petrov should play a part after suffering a knock.

Martin O’Neill believes he has suitable replacements to fill the voids if the likes of Milner and Petrov don’t feature but we aren’t so sure. However, we mustn’t forget that they are facing an average Bolton side and the win is the minimum we expect from Villa on Saturday. They’ve won three out of five at home this season, unbeaten in four at Villa Park and they should their second home win on the trot after their last home triumph over league leaders, Chelsea.

Bolton Wanderers

League Position: 15^th

Recent League Form: WDLWL

We all knew Bolton were going to have a difficult job on their hands avoiding a relegation battle and it’s looks very likely that they will be thereabouts come the very end of the season. Bolton were smashed for four on Saturday, losing 4-0 at home to Chelsea in a resounding manner. That was their second defeat to Chelsea within the space of four days. It was also their second spanking from the Blues after Chelsea beat Bolton 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in the Carling Cup last Wednesday. That’s now eight goals shipped in just outings and that has to dent the confident of the Bolton back four heading into another very tough fixture at Villa Park.

Gary Megson mentioned there was several positives to take out of the two games with Chelsea, whereas we failed to see any. Their defence looked all over the place, with Jlloyd Samuel seeing red just before half-time, and the Bolton full-back will now miss the trip to Villa Park leaving Gary Megson to opt for veteran, Paul Robinson, at full-back. That’s terrible news for all you punters, unless you’re a Villa fan, of course, as the pace of Ashley Young & James Milner, if the latter plays, is something an ageing Paul Robinson won’t be able to cope with. Bolton now look even more exposed at the back, which seemed an impossible feat after conceding eight within a week.

Travelling hasn’t been a major concern for Bolton as two of their three wins thus far have come on the road against Portsmouth (2-3) & Birmingham City (1-2). On both occasions they did manage to score a few goals and that has been a surprisingly good trend for Gary Megson’s side this season, scoring on the road. Bolton did fail to score Hull City in their opening away encounter but they have managed to score at least one past Portsmouth, Birmingham and even Manchester United, so perhaps Bolton aren’t without a chance here.

Head-to-Head:

Aston Villa W: 3 Bolton Wanderers W: 1 Draws: 6

If the Head-to-Head statistics between the two are anything to go by then this could be another dull draw, or will it? Well, although six of the last ten meetings between the two sides have resulted in a share of the spoils, not a single one of those actually finished 0-0. Four of those draws ended 1-1 while the other two finished 2-2, so the likelihood is that we will at least see a goal at Villa Park on Saturday, especially if Villa continue where they left off in their previous two home games with Bolton. On Bolton’s last two visits to Villa Park they have conceded four goals in each, eight in total, losing 4-2 last season and 4-0 the season before.

Predicting how many goals this game will produce could be a case of flipping the coin or a childish game or ‘miney-mo’. However, the last two encounters at Villa Park both produced entertaining, goal-filled affairs and we hope that trend continues.

Match Verdict: Aston Villa to WIN – 1.80 Bet365

Martin O’Neill’s mixture of young and experienced players will be desperate to get back to winning ways and should do so against Bolton on Saturday. Bolton have been a nuisance for Villa in the past but O’Neill has recruited some tall, strong defenders in Richard Dunne and Collins. The pair should cope with the aerial danger of Bolton and, when you consider that Bolton’s main goal threat comes through set-pieces, Villa should win pretty comfortably providing they do the basics right.

Match Odds:

Aston Villa – 1.80 Bet365

Draw – 3.75 Coral

Bolton Wanderers – 5.2 Expekt.com

 Update: The result of Aston Villa v Bolton was 5-1 (goals by Young, Agbonlahor, Carew, Milner, Cuellar; Elmander)