Bolton Wanderers V Fulham Betting

Bolton Wanderers V Fulham

Saturday, 14th August – 15:00 GMT

Bolton Wanderers

As like any other Premiership season for Bolton Wanderers, the objective once again will be to fend off relegation and to maintain the clubs status in England’s topflight division. They done so by the skin of their teeth in previous seasons, but last season Bolton finished a clear nine points above the drop, with the teams results definitely improving in the second half of the season under new manager Owen Coyle, so there were promising signs from the Reebok club that they can do a lot better than they for the most part last term, when positive form was almost non-existent and despite some valiant and brave efforts against some classy opponents they just couldn’t convert their courageous performances into points which would have propelled them up the Premier League and into a more respectable finishing position. Nevertheless, Bolton are still a Premiership club and they can rewrite any possible wrongdoings or shortcomings in the 2010/2011 season by first ensuring enough points are on the board to avoid a relegation scrap and secondly possible mount a charge on the top-ten, as they did some years ago under Sam Allarydce. 

It was patently obvious that Bolton were playing much better football in the final stages of last season, with Owen Coyle getting the best out of a formerly rigid and one-dimensional Bolton side. Their passing play all round was a great deal better than it was in the early part of the season when Gary Megson was manager, with their movement on and off the ball a lot sharper and their passes more accurate and crisper, signs that Coyle is having the desired impact the board expected from him when they appointed him back in January. But points were still hard to come by and for all their prettier football, pointless games only spell trouble and it’s now a matter of Coyle tweaking the Bolton system, getting the defence to remain more compact and the offence to be more clinical. He may well be of the opinion that his summer signings should fix some of those problems, with Marcos Alonso, a versatile Spaniard which can play either as a left wing-back or on the left side of midfield, joining Bolton from Real Madrid, while Coyle will be hoping Martin Petrov and Robbie Blake aid the team in creating and converting more of their chances.

I’ve been quite impressed with Owen Coyle’s summer signings, with Martin Petrov, that’s if he can keep the Bulgarian fit, in particular a player which has the pace and ability to get past a defender and whip in a fizzing cross which should benefit Kevin Davies, Ivan Klasnic and Johan Elmander who are all aerial specialists. Robbie Blake only played in drips and drabs with Burnley last season and with Bolton boasting the likes of aforementioned above, I don’t really see where he will fit in and really make an impact at Bolton this season.

Bolton made a terrible start to last season when following up an opening day loss at home to Sunderland with another two losses on the spin, so to say making a positive start to the season is important for Owen Coyle’s Trotters would be putting it lightly. It’s so important Bolton get off to a good start and in a home fixture with Fulham, who haven’t made any notable additions over the summer as well as the late appointment of Mark Hughes leading to possible confusion in tactics and formation, there’s a real possibility of that happening. Coyle has a full strength team to pick from so there will be no excuses whatsoever for failure on Saturday.

Fulham

The expectations at Craven Cottage nowadays are sky-high following two successive top-ten finishes in the Premier League and a UEFA Europa League final last term. The man which made all that possible though has departed the Cottagers over the summer as Roy Hodgson left for pastures new at Liverpool. Hodgson has well and truly set the standard at Fulham and left his successor Mark Hughes with a mountain to climb if the Welshman wishes to surpass Hodgson’s achievements. The primary objective this season will be to finish inside the top ten, as they’ve done for the previous two seasons, but with the club confirming their appointment of Mark Hughes just weeks before the start of the season, has the Welshman had enough time with his players to implement his desired strategies and preferred tactics ahead of the new season with a club where the expectations are high but nothing like that he faced with his former employees, Manchester City.

For whatever reason, Fulham have never been good travellers and it’s perhaps a poor characteristics of Fulham’s which requires urgent attention. In the last three Premier League season, Fulham have picked up just seven away wins from 57 trips, with just one of those coming last term meaning Fulham’s away fortunes aren’t getting any better but more the opposite. That solitary away success last season came at Portsmouth, who later went on to finish rock-bottom of the league and it begs the question as to whether Fulham would of actually won an away game last term had struggling Portsmouth not been in the league. So why are Fulham such a terrible away outfit? The obvious answers appears to lye with their forwards, as Fulham scored just twelve goals away from home last season, although that’s not surprising considering the forward offensive contains Bobby Zamora and Erik Nevland, two players which for all their best efforts simply don’t score enough at this level.

With the close of the transfer window just a matter of weeks away, Fulham’s only summer signing remains a player they captured on a free transfer in former Arsenal centre-back Philippe Senderos. Al-Fayed, the Fulham chairman, has promised Hughes the funds he needs to reignite Fulham’s Premier League charge but the former Blackburn & Man City manager hasn’t had much time to bring in the players he wants ahead of the new campaign, with a new forward surely at the top of his priorities. So it’s basically going to be a case of the same old same old, with the exact same group of players that earned a 10th place finish last season at Hughes disposal, although that isn’t necessarily a positive. Combine Fulham’s sluggish appointment of a new manager, the lack of summer signings and their dreadful away record in the premier League, Fulham’s odds of winning at the Reebok look too slim for our liking despite Fulham etching out a 1-0 win at Portsmouth on the opening day of last season.

Match Verdict: Bolton Wanderers to WIN – 2.30 PaddyPower

There are so many reasons why Fulham should be opposed this weekend; lack of fresh faces and a poor away record among them, and while Bolton Wanderers aren’t exactly the reliable sorts, I do fancy their chances of recording an opening day win over the poor travelling Cottagers.

Bolton showed enough promised in the closing stages of last season that a bigger and better campaign could be just around the corner provided Owen Coyle strengthens over the summer. While he could of done with a few more notable additions, we were both shocked and pleased to see him obtain the signature of former Man City winger Martin Petrov, who if at his best on Saturday will cause Paul Koncheskey and John Pantsil all sorts of problems out on the flanks. It would appear as though Ivan Klasnic has re-signed, bolstering Bolton’s attacking further, so a solid and clinical display from Owen Coyle’s men should be enough to see off Fulham on Saturday at attractive odds.

Match Odds:

Bolton Wanderers – 2.30 PaddyPower
Draw – 3.40 StanJames
Fulham – 3.40 Bet365

SoccerBetting Value Bet: Bolton Wanderers to WIN to NIL – 3.60 PaddyPower

Bolton Wanderers V Fulham

Saturday, 6^th February – 15:00 GMT

Bolton Wanderers

League Position: 16th

Recent Form: DLLWL

Owen Coyle will surely fancy his sides chances of earning a valuable set of three points and bettering their poor run of just one win in their last six when Fulham pay them a visit this Saturday. Bolton, despite a lot of defeats of late, have been putting in some decent tea displays under Owen Coyle and were it not for some tough opening fixtures, Coyle might have been celebrating a few more wins. As it is, Bolton have scummed to defeat at Liverpool, and lost twice to Arsenal, but do have a pleasing home win in between after beating Burnley 1-0 a fortnight ago.

On paper, this run of theirs (losing three of their last four) does make them appear a poor bet this weekend but that’s not the case as Bolton haven’t lost a league fixture against a team not touted as a ‘Top Four’ team since the 5^th December when they lost 1-0 at Wolves. Moreover, their only home defeat in four came against an Arsenal side chasing the league title, and even then Bolton weren’t disgraced as they created more than enough chances against the Gunners to worthy at least a point.

Under Owen Coyle, Bolton already look a different side but still have their tough, physical characteristics, which makes Bolton more than just a one dimensional side. The former Burnley manager has got this Bolton side playing proper ‘On the floor’ football and it should pay off sooner or later. On Saturday, Bolton took on Liverpool at Anfield and could of took the lead within the first few minutes when Cohen missed a one-on-one with Pepe Reina before Lee has an effort cleared off the line. Coyle has made Bolton more of a threat when going forward instead of just being an aerial threat and a set-piece specialist. They now possess the ability and know-how to carve out opportunities from open play instead of waiting for set-plays and this will result in Bolton scoring plenty more goals under Owen Coyle than they ever did under Megson. 

If Bolton replicate their performances from their games with Arsenal & Liverpool then they shouldn’t have a problem claiming all three points on Saturday. Fulham are a side faltering and are there to be had on Saturday. Bolton are facing a Fulham side who have lost their previous four away league encounters, with their last two being to NIL, but with this information comes added pressure as now Bolton, who have been the underdogs in games of late, now become the favourites to win and we aren’t completely confident that they have the strength of mind to handle the expectancy.

Fulham

League Position: 10th

Recent Form: LLLLW

Fulham put an end to their miserable losing streak with a victory over a cash-strapped Portsmouth at Craven Cottage on Wednesday night. However, Fulham were far from convincing in a game they should have win at a cantor, and with Fulham losing their previous four away encounters, surely the Cottagers are of little value in this clash with an ‘on-the-up’ Bolton side.

Fulham did win on their last visit to The Reebok when they beat a then Gary Megson Bolton side 3-1. However, Fulham’s away flaws have really come to light in such a short space of time and haven’t picked up an away point since early December when they drew 1-1 at Burnley. Since then, Fulham have lost four away games on the spine, not including their away victory at Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup, in which they struggled for the best part of 75 minutes in that game. They’ve also not scored in their last two outings in the league. Yet another statistic which further dampens their odds of winning this clash.

To be brutally honest, despite tipping them to win in midweek, we can’t see Fulham ending their away drought at The Reebok on Saturday despite earning a 3-1 victory their last season. Their narrow and fortunate 1-0 victory over Portsmouth in midweek ended a five match losing rut of which four were away from home. They’ve been nothing short of terrible in their recent away outings, not scoring in either of their trips to Tottenham & Blackburn while they found themselves 3-0 down at the break to a usually toothless Stoke City at The Brittania. In our opinion, a draw would be a very good result for Roy Hodgeson and Fulham but they’ll do well to earn a point at The Reebok. 

Fulham haven’t won an away fixture in the Premiership since the opening day of the season when they beat Portsmouth 1-0 at Fratton Park. They are on a run of eleven games without an away win; Drawing 4, Losing 7.

Match Verdict: Bolton Wanderers to WIN – 2.38 SkyBet

Fulham aren’t playing well at the moment whereas Bolton have been but haven’t been getting the right results nor picking up too many points. However, we expect the latter remark to chance on Saturday as Bolton aim to make it two wins in seven at the expense of a Fulham side that have lost their previous four away fixtures in the Premiership. Moreover, Bolton have been playing some attractive, attacking football of late while Fulham have been vulnerable and exposed at the back. It would be typical for the sides to reverse their respective forms, with Bolton not turning up and Fulham ending their baron away run of eleven away games without a win, but we don’t see that happening and Bolton are the bet to be on we feel.

Match Odds:

Bolton Wanderers – 2.38 SkyBet

Draw – 3.40 SkyBet

Fulham – 3.25 Bet365

SoccerBetting Value Pick: Bolton Wanderers to Score 2 or more goals – 5/4 PaddyPower