Bolton Wanderers V Aston Villa Betting: Saturday, 3rd April

Bolton Wanderers V Aston Villa

Saturday, 3^rd April – 12:45 GMT

Bolton Wanderers

League Position: 15th

Recent Form: WLWLL 

Two defeats within a week has landed Bolton in a spot of bother after earlier looking on the road to safety. A 2-0 defeat at Everton a fortnight ago was accompanied by another loss at home to Manchester United, this time a resounding 4-0 and it now leaves Owen Coyle and Bolton just five points above the drop zone. A much craved victory over the weekend however would certainly ease some of the pressure down at The Reebok, but Bolton might find themselves up against it as they welcome a Villa side who could best be described as a wounded animal after their mauling at the hands of Chelsea last weekend. 

Bolton aren’t one to go lightly on opponents though and will try to enlarge Villa’s woes by inflicting yet another defeat on the Villians. However, Bolton themselves are a team still reeling and recovering after receiving a spanking of their own last Saturday when losing 4-0 at home to Manchester United. That was Bolton’s second defeat in quick succession after seven days earlier falling to defeat at Everton. It was also the second game running where Bolton hadn’t managed to score goal, while their six goals conceding in just two games will add yet more fuel to the relegation bonfire.

There is still plenty to be optimistic about especially as the team they’re facing, Aston Villa, are suffering a dip in form themselves. Bolton, though, despite losing 4-0 in their last home encounter, were previously unbeaten in four at The Reebok after a fruitful four game run at home which seen them accumulate a rather tasty tally of ten points from a possible twelve. In fact, were it not for Bolton’s rich vein of form at home, Owen Coyle would be scratching his head as to how his Bolton side would stay up as their away form has been their Achilles heel since the turn of the year, with Bolton losing six of their eight away league fixtures in 2010.

While Bolton are just five points clear of the dreaded relegation zone, they will know just a few more wins would be enough to secure them their Premiership status for at least another season. With eight games still left to play, if they could somehow notch up a big victory against Aston Villa this Saturday, it would do wonders for their relegation cause. While their overall home form recently has been something to write home about, their 4-0 hammering by Man Utd in their last Reebok appearance has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons, so predicting a Bolton win might be a tad audcacious and we are almost certain Owen Coyle would settle for a point before kick-off.

Interesting Fact: Bolton have lost just two of their previous nine league games at The Reebok stadium. However, both defeats were inflicted by teams inside the top three in Arsenal & Manchester United.

Aston Villa

League Position: 7th

Recent Form: DWDDL

Villa suffered their heaviest Premiership defeat on Saturday as they were given a right pasting by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Despite John Carew earlier making it 1-1, Chelsea tore Aston Villa to shrewds and the 7-1 scoreline was a fair reflection on what was a dominant displays from the Blues and a poor team performance from Villa. Martin O’Neill remains adamant that fourth spot isn’t beyond them, although their season long objective just turned into mission impossible and they will now require an immaculate finish to the season just to make the run-in interesting.

It was literally boys against men as Villa were made to look less than ordinary against a Chelsea who weren’t exactly flying high in the league. However, while Chelsea were amazing, we’re more interesting in just how bad and one paced Villa were in a fixture they sneaked a 1-1 draw in last season. Their midfield just wasn’t strong enough to compete with that of Chelsea’s, their defending was all over the place while John Carew barely go a touch of the ball up front such was the dominance Chelsea enjoyed. If anything it was a big reality check that Villa aren’t quite there yet, or anywhere near for that matter and that Villa fans might have another ‘oh so close’ season.

Martin O’Neill has assured Villa supporters that his players will solider on regardless of their poor vein of form. Villa have now gone three games without a win in the Premiership after that humbling, while their drastic run of just three wins in eleven league games is what ultimately has cost them a chance at Champions League football. Much like last season, the players got too excited and crumbled under the expectant pressure of both the fans and the pundits. We’ve said this on plenty of occasions but Villa’s squad is still very young and still maturing. They’re improving rapidly with every season, but, however, it is a concern as other teams are getting much stronger at a faster rate of knots and you can’t help but feel that Villa’s best, and possibly last, chance for fourth place finish might just have passed them by.

In regards to this fixture, Villa don’t have the best of records at The Reebok having drawn there on their previous four visits. The same result would almost certainly rule them out of the hunt for fourth completely so they cannot contemplate another winless weekend. Villa have drawn far too many games of late (8/11) and while they will try everything to better their poor run of form, we can only feel a point would be the best outcome they could achieve at what is a tough venue to play at.

Match Verdict: Draw – 3.30 PaddyPower

These two sides do love their draws, especially so at The Reebok, and we’re banking on that trend continuing over the weekend. Neither team heads into this meeting with any sort of form, with Bolton losing their last two league fixtures and Villa not managing a win in three. The draw almost has that inevitable feel about it, although the worrying factor is neither can afford to drop any more points between now and the end of the season so, perhaps, should one of the two show a great deal more hunger than the other, there won’t be a fifth draw in a a row between these two sides on Saturday. 

The previous four meetings between these two sides at The Reebok has produced four successive draws, three of which were 1-1 while the remaining one finished 2-2.

Match Odds:

Bolton Wanderers – 3.10 Bet365

Draw – 3.30 PaddyPower

Aston Villa – 2.45 Expekt

SoccerBetting Value Tip: 1-1 Correct Score – 6.50 totesport