Hull City V Bolton Wanderers

English Premiership 2009/2010

Hull City V Bolton Wanderers

Kick-Off: Saturday 22nd August – 15:00 GMT 

Venue: The KC Stadium

Two sides that appear destined for life in the lower half of the table go head-to-head in a desperate battle for Premiership points with neither side managing to earn a single point form their opening encounters. Hull will be aiming to make home advantage count while Gary Megson will have ambitions to keep Hull at bay for large periods of the game and punish them with set-pieces. This should be an interesting match up but one we feel could go the way of the home side.

It would hardly take a brave punter before the season kicked-off to predict a difficult season ahead for Phil Brown at the helm of Hull City. However, we will firmly stick our hands up and say ‘WE DID!’. Not only did Hull end the latter part of last season in pathetic form but they’ve also struggled to strengthen over the summer and, with the new season just two games old, Hull are already facing up to what will almost certainly be a season they will spend on the back foot.

Although Hull have endured a difficult period in the Premiership, which has seen them go nineteen games without a win, Hull do actually play some entertaining football, but consequently has no end product. However, Hull’s one and only match winner is Brazilian Geovanni and despite the player possessing one mighty fine ego, Hull manager Phil Brown needs to swallow his pride and play the play-maker more often if Hull are to pick up some points sooner rather than later. The Brazilain was introduced from the bench on Wednesday night but by then it was too late. Has Phil Brown learnt his lesson and will he start with Geovanni on Saturday?

Gary Megson was given time to ponder his thoughts ahead of this clash with Hull as Bolton were not involved in any football action during the week. After a 1-0 defeat at home to Sunderland on Saturday, you could say it was just what the doctor ordered as it gave both the manager and the players time to reflect on their weekend heartaches.

Bolton simply weren’t at the races that day with Sunderland dominating in terms of creating the better chances. That’s the problem with Bolton, when they do lose, and that will be an awful lot, they will tend to lose by the odd goal. That’s because Gary Megson has turned Bolton into a solid side but he still lacks a few players with a bit of flair and composure in the final third. Will he attain a player to fill this void during the coming weeks? It doesn’t look like it but it’s certainly something they need to look into if they want to stay well clear of the drop.

Bolton will be a tricky side to play against this season, especially in front of their home fans. With that said, we can’t see Bolton picking up too many points on their travels so it’s crucial they attain as many points as possible at The Reebok if they are to survive what could be a nail biting season. However, this is an away fixture and one they could potentially win and there certainly won’t be many so they will need to grab this opportunity with both hands.

Head-to-Head: Hull W: 0 Bolton W: 1 Draws: 1

The pair have only met twice since the Premiership was formed and it’s Bolton who claimed the one and only victory to date when winning at The KC Stadium last season. However, Hull did manage to secure a point at The Reebok in the reverse fixture and Hull will now be looking to go one better on Saturday and secure their very first victory over Bolton in the league.

Match Verdict: Hull to end their win less drought against Bolton – 6/4 Expekt.com

It’s clear for all to see that Hull have lost their way when it comes to winning games in the Premiership although they have shown signs of dashing their awful drought in their opening two fixtures and this is certainly a game they could and probably should win. Gary Megson would settle for a draw as Bolton don’t tend to travel well but the omen is on Hull to finally win a Premiership fixture and we think they’ll do just enough this Saturday.

Match Odds:

Hull City – 6/4 Expekt.com

Bolton Wanderers – 9/4 StanJames

Draw – 12/5 Boylesports

SoccerBetting Tip: Geovanni to Score Anytime – 11/4 SkyBet