Bolton Wanderers Vs Chelsea Betting – Saturday 31st October

 

Bolton Wanderers V Chelsea

 

Kick-off: Saturday 31st October – 15:00 GMT

Venue: The Reebok

 

 

 

Bolton Wanderers

 

League Position: 12th

Recent Form: DWDLW 

 

Gary Megson came out on the losing side in round 1 of the Bolton versus Chelsea contest but this time he will have home advantage on his side. Bolton are unbeaten in their last three games at The Reebok and Megson will have to conjure some sort of masterstroke in order to maintain Bolton’s unbeaten run on home soil judging by their midweek performance against Chelsea. Draws with Stoke City & Tottenham Hotspur, in combination with their enthralling 3-2 victory over Everton last Sunday means Bolton have picked up five points from a possible nine in that three game streak but matters were far from rosy at The Reebok in the early part of the season when Bolton recorded two defeats on the spin in front of their home fans.

  

It’s hard to see Bolton troubling Chelsea in fairness, despite them possessing the advantage of the home crowd. They do boast an unbeaten three match streak at The Reebok but both Liverpool and Sunderland exposed them in front of their home fans in the early part of the season, with Liverpool outfighting Bolton to win 3-2, and it’s not often a team actually outfights Bolton at The Reebok. To Bolton’s credit, they have put in some spirited performances ever since and they do merit a lot of respect for their home form of late as they were up against some tricky opponents.

  

Bolton have hit a lean streak in front of goal at The Reebok, scoring six goals in three games, three of those coming in their last league outing at home to Everton. They had to battle hard in that game and defy the disappointment of seeing their two goal advantage diminish. They fought on, though, and they duly got their just rewards when Ivan Klasnic scored an 86^th minute to send Bolton to their first win at The Reebok this season. However, their defence hasn’t exactly been ship-tight either and Bolton have conceded nine goals at home this season, four in their last two home encounters so there are negatives that sort of cancel out the Bolton positives unfortunately. 

 

Bolton will do well to get a point in this game we reckon. They will need to work their socks off at the back and hope their keeper puts in one of his famous impenetrable displays. However, most important of all, Bolton cannot conceded an early goal as it would probably be curtains. Chelsea do have the ability to to assert their authority in games once going ahead early and this was certainly the case when they thumped Blackburn 5-0 in their previous fixture.

 

  

 

Chelsea

 

League Position: 1st

Recent Form: WLWLW

  

Chelsea didn’t dwell on their Aston Villa defeat for too long as they followed that disappointing result up with a stunning 5-0 hammering of Blackburn Rovers at Stamford Bridge. Carlo Ancelotti has seen his Chelsea side lose two games in a relatively shorty space of time but on each occasions he mas managed to lift his troops and get them prepared in the right mindset for the very next fixture. Two defeats this season by Aston Villa & Wigan Athletic, both on the road it has to be said, were quickly followed by big victories and although Chelsea won’t be in similar predicament on Saturday, they will want to avoid such a sticky situation as they travel to Bolton aiming to avoid their third away defeat on the bounce.

  

Chelsea do still remain as one of the teams to beat this season but their away frailties are beginning to come to light. Before their defeat to Wigan Athletic at The DW stadium, Chelsea had won their previous three away encounters, beating Stoke City, Fulham and Sunderland. However, Wigan seem to have kicked started the Chelsea away rot as the Blues have now lost their last two away games in the Premiership, a run which is a concern as they plan their next route of attack as they travel to The Reebok, a stadium which hasn’t seen their side lose in three games.

  

Carlo Ancelotti is a wily old character and he does have an uncanny knack of lifting the morale within the camp after poor results but now he must build on Chelsea most recent success and banish their recent away hoodoo’s. Bolton is a tough venue to play in but Chelsea will be extremely confident of ending their poor away run with a victory at The Reebok, a venue they have won of their previous six visits to. Chelsea are more than accomplished to continue their fine run at The Reebok but they will need to tighten up at the back if they are to do so.

  

Chelsea haven’t failed to score on their travels this far, scoring in five away outings this season and you have to go back to March last season for when Chelsea last failed to score when on the road, that coming in a 1-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur. We feel it’s pretty simple for Chelsea, keep it tidy at the back and the three points should be all buy yours. Chelsea will score at The Reebok, that is near enough a certainty, but they will need to do something they haven’t managed to do in their last three away encounters, and that’s keep a clean sheet. Stoke City, Wigan Athletic & now Aston Villa have scored against Chelsea on their travels and it’s imperative that Bolton don’t get added to that list if Chelsea fans want their side to prosper.

 

 

 

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

 

Bolton Wanderers W: 0 Chelsea W: 7 Draws: 3

  

Bolton have never enjoyed a fixture with Chelsea, especially when at The Reebok. Chelsea have actually won on their previous six visits to Bolton, although, rarely do Chelsea hand Bolton a good hammering. In fact, four of those six victories at The Reebok came by a 2-0 scoreline while the other two both finished 1-0. You may have also noticed in that run that Chelsea didn’t concede a single goal, with Bolton failing to score against Chelsea at home in over 540 minutes of play.

 

Bolton’s best fortunes in this fixture have surprisingly come at the home of Chelsea, Stamford Bridge. Bolton’s last five visits to Stamford Bridge has seen them draw on three occasions, so maybe the Bolton players come alive when the home shackles are released. A big negative as far as this weekend’s clash at The Reebok is concerned.

 

 

 

 

Match Verdict:- Chelsea to WIN – 1.45 Coral

 

Carlo Ancelotti will need to fortify what has been a rather shaky Chelsea back line in recent away encounters but they should outscore their opponents quite comfortably. Chelsea’s defending has come under fire of late, mainly from set-pieces, an area where Bolton are strong in but we would be very surprised if Chelsea didn’t spend extra hours on the training pitch cutting out those defensive errors. Chelsea looked lethal in attack both in Saturday’s 5-0 romp of Blackburn & their comprehensive 4-0 win over the very same opponent on Wednesday, although, the 4-0 win over Bolton didn’t come at The Reebok but at Stamford Bridge. Still, Carlo Ancelotti should know what to expect from Bolton now and Chelsea should be far too strong for the likes of Bolton.

 

 

 

Match Odds:

 

 

Bolton Wanderers – 9.0 Bet365

 

Draw – 4.30 Bet365

 

Chelsea – 1.45 Coral

 

 

 

 

SoccerBetting Value Tip: 0-2 (Chelsea) Correct Score – 6/1 Ladbrokes

 

 

 Update: The result of Bolton vs Chelsea was 0-4 (goals by Lampard (pen), Deco, Knight (og), Drogba)