EPL: Bolton Wanderers V Birmingham City – Sunday, 29th August (LIVE GAME)

Bolton Wanderers V Birmingham City

Sunday, 29th August – 13:30 GMT
LIVE on Sky Sports 1

Bolton Wanderers

League Position: 5th
League Form: DW

The Trotters have an imperious record against Birmingham City at The Reebok, having won the previous three Premier League encounters on home soil. They’ll be looking to make it four in a row following on from a positive start to the new season which has seen them collect four points from their opening two games including an impressive 3-1 win away at West Ham.

You would have never predicted in a million years that Johan Elmander, a player seemingly destined to fail in the Premier League following a torrid last couple of seasons with Bolton Wanderers, would score twice on the way to West Ham recording an impressive 3-1 away at Upton Park against West Ham United, their second away win in the league over the Hammers in consecutive seasons. However, the majority of the credits falls upon Owen Coyle’s doorstep for spotting a huge defensive Hammers flaw, their inability to handle the aerial ball. Time and time again Kevin Davies and Elmander were winning the aerial battles over Matthew Upson, who had a torrid time of things against the Bolton pair, and Bolton would then feed off the scraps left by a jagged and wayward West Ham defence.

So ‘Route One’ was the key to Bolton’s success on Saturday, using the strengths of Davies and Elmander to exploit a defence. It was actually pleasing to see considering Coyle was tinkering with the general feel of Bolton last season, trying to turn the team into a more attractive proposition, but the fact he’s more than happy for his players to their physical traits in games can only lead to positive results this season, and that’s just as well seeing as Bolton’s form at home last season wasn’t the best (6-6-7) could certainly do with improving. They began their home campaign with a rather disappointing 0-0 draw with Fulham, a team with a tendency to perform badly on the road. Birmingham are another side who’s better displays tend to come at home and if Bolton really do want to push on from their near-relegation finish of last season, they need to buck up their ideas and pick up more points in front of their home fans.

Birmingham City

League Position: 6th
League Form: DW

Birmingham enjoyed the longest unbeaten run last season when going twelve league games without defeat only to go on a run of three consecutive away losses. And away from home was where Birmingham let themselves down last term in an otherwise unbelievable league campaign, with twelve of their fourteen league defeats coming away from St. Andrews with Bolton being one of the twelve sides to have capitalised on Birmingham’s poor travelling tendencies.

Alex McLeish will have breathed a sigh of relief as his players came from a goal down to overhaul Blackburn Rovers at St. Andrews last Saturday, with Blackburn’s goal coming midway through the second half leaving Birmingham with around 20 minutes to turn the game around, which they did with great success. A rare Craig Gardner double ensured all the points remained in Birmingham, but it was a stunning spot-kick save from former Manchester United keeper Ben Foster which ultimately sparred Birmingham’s blushes. In fact, Foster made a couple of super stops to deny Blackburn furthermore success in front of goal, with Foster trying to fill the rather large boots left by Joe Hart who was a huge success at the club during a season-long loan last season.

Overall it was a satisfactory day at the office for Birmingham City even though they didn’t play particularly well or anywhere near their best. Alex McLeish uttered the same sentiments in a post-match interview but he will be expecting far better from his players in their next league outing – an awkward trip to Bolton. The problem area on Saturday was defence, with Ben Foster left exposed on so many occasions that he had to pull off some strong-handed saves just to spare the defences blushes. But it says all you need to know when your goalkeeper is the player claiming all the plaudits – Alex McLeish has his work cut out reducing the amount of defensive mistakes this week ahead of his sides trip to Bolton at the weekend, while he’s still a quality forward short as Nikola Zigic doesn’t quite look up to speed with the Premier League and isn’t one to singly-handily hand craft a shooting opportunity, although it was only his first appearance. I do, though, worry where their goals will come from at The Reebok on Saturday.

Match Prediction: Bolton Wanderers to WIN – 2.20 PaddyPower

The Reebok hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Birmingham over the years, having lost the previous meetings on Bolton soil, and that’s basically the catalyst for our selection.

Owen Coyle just seems the perfect manager for Bolton, combining his knowledge on how to play effectively on the ground with Bolton’s natural strengths, their physical strength and their aerial prowess. It has proved a lethal combination on occasions, while a couple of goals for Johan Elmander last weekend will have done his confidence the world of good as oppose to Birmingham’s pick ‘n’ mix style of scoring, with none of their forwards getting on the score sheet thus far.

The momentum is with Bolton following their impressive 3-1 win at West Ham on Saturday and the home side are our pick to make it four wins in a row over Birmingham City.

Match Odds:

Bolton Wanderers – 2.20 PaddyPower
Draw – 3.40 Ladbrokes
Birmingham City – 3.80 Coral

Soccer-Betting Tip: Johan Elmander (Bolton) First Goalscorer – 8.00 VCBet