Bolton Wanderers V West Ham United

Bolton V West Ham

Date & Kick-Off: Saturday, 9 April 2011 – 15:00 (GMT)
Venue: Reebok Stadium

West Ham have endured a miserable time of things during recent encounters with Bolton in the Premier League, however the Hammers will look to capitalise on the Trotters’ recent slump in form after Owen Coyle’s men suffered their second successive defeat last weekend.

The previous seven contests in all competitions have all been won by Bolton, who haven’t lost a Premiership fixture at home to West Ham since 1995. So the omens are good for a Trotters revival, not that the club find themselves in a sticky situation – Bolton are 8th in the table, eight-points clear of the relegation zone but now seemingly out of the race for a Europa League finish, with Spurs now ten-points further up the league in 5th.

Speaking of revivals, West Ham will need to get back to collecting points as soon as possible. Avram Grant’s side were savaged by Manchester United last weekend, the Hammers relinquishing a 2-0 lead courtesy of two successful Mark Noble spot-kicks to lose 4-2 at Upton Park, shipping all four goals in the second half, as their previously encouraging four-match unbeaten streak in the league came crashing to an end.

For Bolton, it’s all about securing another three-point haul which would almost definitely put to bed any apprehension of relegation. West Ham, however, will look over at their opponents with a touch of envy, as the Hammers yet again dropped back down into the bottom-three with that defeat to United seven days previous and are now in desperate need of a result in order to make an immediate return to dry land.

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Bolton

League Position: 8th
League Form: WDWLL

Consecutive defeats has scuppered any chance Bolton had of sneaking into Europe via the Europa League, although Europe was always going to be a stiff ask for Owen Coyle and his players and the focus now, until the end of the season, will be to accumulate enough points to not only mathematically guarantee survival, which should only be another win, but also a top-ten finish.

Bolton were beaten for the second match running when going down 2-1 at Birmingham last weekend, but we should point out that both reverses came away from The Reebok, and the other was an unfortunate 1-0 loss at league leaders Man Utd. At home, however, Bolton have only lost two matches all season in the league, plus, Coyle & Co will be eyeing up their fourth successive league victory on their own patch when they entertain West Ham on Saturday, following wins over Wolves (1-0), Everton (2-0) and Aston Villa (3-2).

Speaking of the Hammers, Bolton have dominated recent clashes with the East Londoners. The Trotters have won all seven previous encounters at The Reebok, not to mention the fact an eight straight home win on Saturday would also be their eight in a row in all competitions over that bubble-mad club, home and away.

Kevin Davies has also enjoyed scraping with those Hammers, the Bolton forward having scored eight times during his career against West Ham and will be hoping his rich vein of form against them will aid him in his bid bolster a miserable return of only one league goal since the turn of the year. His strike partner, Johan Elmander, has been similarly unproductive in 2011 – perhaps why Bolton have dramatically gone from European hopefuls to mid-table settlers since Christmas.

Nevertheless, all the arrows are pointing in Bolton’s direction, although their cause isn’t helped by the fact Stuart Holden has been ruled out for anywhere up to six months with a knee injury. Owen Coyle has yet to mastermind a league win whenever Holden hasn’t featured, emphasising the importance of having the American’s combative-nature in the middle of the park.

West Ham

League Position: 18th
League Form: DWWDL

A week on from their demoralising defeat at home to league leaders Manchester United, West Ham go in search of redemption in the form of their first league win at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium for 16-years. But their opponents have only lost twice at home all season, which is the same miserly sum that West Ham have won away from home, so I’m sure I won’t be the only pundit who fears the worst for Avram Grant’s men in a fixture which has brought the club and it’s loyal supporters nothing but misery over the years.

Every club, even the very best, has an adversary. A team who invariably get the better of them, or causes them countless problems whenever they clash. In West Ham’s case it’s Bolton, although, in fairness, we could have mentioned several clubs who generally have a whale of a time against the Hammers.

Since 1995, the year in which they secured their one and only Premiership victory over Bolton Wanderers on the road in nine attempts, West Ham have recorded zero wins, one draw and a bewildering eight defeats. Furthermore, a seemingly routine defeat on Saturday would be their eighth on the spin against Bolton, whom have won the previous seven encounters, home and away, in all competitions.

Instead of spending this entire preview focusing on history, and how West Ham have plenty of the stuff with the Trotters, we thought better to highlight West Ham’s positives.

For starters, their football has come on leaps and bounds in 2011, which in turn has led to a markedly improved return of points. Before their 4-2 reverse at home to United, a match in which the Hammers led 2-0 at half-time only to capitulate in the second-half and concede four within the space of 30 minutes, they hadn’t tasted defeat for four games in the league. Goals haven’t been as hard to come by as they were in the opening half of the season either, while defensively, that despite conceding four last time out, they are a great deal more resolute and marshalled by a keeper in Robert Green who has been in fine form and back to something like his best.

The history book certainly doesn’t do them any favours, but West Ham have shown enough improvement in their overall game to convince us, and hopefully their passionate contingent of travelling supporters, that they can squeeze a positive result – so a win or a draw – out of an exceedingly difficult fixture, for them anyway.

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Head-to-Head (Premier League ONLY)

Bolton wins: 11
Draws: 3
West Ham wins: 5

Last 5 Seasons

2010/2011: West Ham 1-3 Bolton
2009/2010: West Ham 1-2 Bolton
2009/2010: Bolton 3-1 West Ham
2008/2009: Bolton 2-1 West Ham
2008/2009: West Ham 1-3 Bolton
2007/2008: Bolton 1-0 West Ham
2007/2008: West Ham 1-1 Bolton
2006/2007: West Ham 3-1 Bolton
2006/2007: Bolton 4-0 West Ham

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Betting

Match Prediction: Draw – 3.40 WilliamHill

Football isn’t played on paper, and it’s a good job it isn’t as if it was, West Ham wouldn’t have a hope in hell on Saturday. Bolton’s record at home, on the whole in fact, is imperious against the Hammers and they are bound to be a popular selection with punters. However, I have personally seen enough from Avran Grant’s side in recent weeks that would suggest they’re good enough for a point, though they will need to halt Bolton’s winning three-match streak at home.

Bolton have been the dominant force in corresponding fixtures, while they’ve been just as formidable at home all season (W8 D5 L2). However, the loss of Stuart Holden for the remainder of the season is huge, compounded by the fact the strikers have suddenly lost their way in front of goal. In stark contrast, West Ham’s attackers haven’t – scoring 11 in their last 5 league games – and if the same West Ham defence that conceded just one goal in three games before shipping four in 30 minutes at home to United last weekend turns up at The Reebok, Bolton’s seven-match winning run over the Hammers could be about to come to an end.

Value Bet: Kevin Davies First Goalscorer – 7.50 SkyBet

The Bolton forward has scored more goals against West Ham than any other opponent, so it would almost bee inevitable should he add to the eight he already has to his name against the Hammers.

Match Odds:

Bolton – 2.25 Coral
Draw – 3.40 WilliamHill
West Ham – 3.60 PaddyPower

Bolton Wanderers V West Ham United

Tuesday 15^th December – 20:00 GMT

Bolton Wanderers

League Position: 19th

Recent Form: LLDLD

Gary Megson will have been ecstatic with his sides displays at the weekend, a stunning performance which resulted in a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Man City, a team which is probably worth around ten times as much as Bolton’s. Nevertheless, Bolton defied the apparent gulf in class and, in some aspects, out battled Man City at times and a similar performance on Tuesday would actually make them a very tough side to oppose, especially as they are facing a beleaguered West Ham United.

Bolton were sensational at the weekend and were more than a match for mega rich Man City at the Reebok. Many daft punters were writing Gary Megson’s battle hardened troops off before a ball was even kicked. Not us though, as we correctly predicted that Bolton would notch up at least a point on Saturday and they deservedly did just that. In actual fact, you would have been hard pressed to say Bolton wouldn’t have deserved all three were they to have won that game as their work ethic that day was second to none. They harried all around the pitch, they weren’t afraid to get stuck in with some strong tackles.

However, what impressed us the most was the threat they posed in the final third and the pace of their breakaways. City we often leaving just the one man back at set-plays and Gary Megson wisely spotted this and the Bolton players were on the ball, also. Whenever Bolton could get the ball away, there would be five or six Bolton players charging forward and it was just a lack of composure which, unfortunately, let them down.  

Bolton’s performance was one of many that deserved heaps of praise but it will count for nothing if they don’t replicate it in a game they know they have every chance of winning. However, Bolton have failed to win at home in three attempts. However, two of those were extremely tough games with Chelsea and Man City and this will be their easiest home fixture to date. They are, however, without a win in the league for six games so you could say Bolton have forgotten how to win a game of football, although not many sides arrive at The Reebok served up so nicely on a plate then a down in the dumps, West Ham United.

West Ham United

League Position: 18th

Recent Form: LDWLL

West Ham are a club in serious trouble right now and only a win will do if they want to head into this gruelling festive period out of the bottom three. With the Hammers now falling to two successive defeats, the confidence around the club and on the pitch must be at a concerning low but a trip to Bolton isn’t all bad, although West Ham lost back-to-back games with Bolton last season so perhaps we are underestimating their situation here. 

Gianfranco Zola and his team have it all to do if they are to guide West Ham out of the rut they are in. They’ve managed just two wins in eight outings in the league but they’ve yet to pick up a single point in the month of December. To add to their woes, their away form this season has been pathetic. In eight away outings, West Ham have managed just the one win and even that solitary away success came on the opening day of the season meaning the Hammers haven’t won on their travels in seven outings. It’s an appalling run of away results and it’s arguably the worst in the league.

It’s not even as if West Ham have had tough away fixtures of late as they haven’t. Games with; Stoke City, Sunderland, Hull City & Birmingham City, were all matches were Zola will have been confident about his sides chances of registering a rare away win. However, from just those four games, West Ham picked up just two points, with defeats at Birmingham and Stoke City.

West Ham’s away efforts weren’t too bad at the start of the season but it’s rapidly got a lot worse, especially in defence. In their opening four away fixtures, West Ham conceded just four goals, three of which came at Man City. However, their previous four outings has seen them ship eight goals, double the amount they were conceding at the start of the campaign, which just goes to show how the confidence within camp has affected their performance on the pitch, especially their defenders.

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

Bolton Wanderers W: 7 West Ham United W: 1 Draw: 2

You won’t come across too many domineering h2h records then this one as Bolton hold all the aces over West Ham. Gary Megson’s Bolton have won the previous three meetings between the two side, but, more importantly, have won each of the five encounters at The Reebok. Moreover, West Ham, in five league visits to Bolton, have only managed one goal, failing to score in four out of five outings at The Reebok. They did, however, score their last season, albeit in a 2-1 defeat.

Match Verdict: Bolton Wanderers to WIN – 2.30 Boylesports

You would like to think this is a glorious opportunity for Bolton to bolster their less-than-impressive points tally but they did come a cropper the last time we fancied them, that was in a 2-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers. However, their stunning effort on Saturday to draw 3-3 with Man City should be the building block they needed to bigger and better things, by better we mean a little further away from the drop zone. Their opponents, West Ham, have struggled all season and are probably at their lowest right now after two successive defeats. The Hammers are certainly there for the taking. Whether Bolton are up the to task is a tough question. We would like to think so, and they are good odds to comply.

Match Odds:

Bolton Wanderers – 2.30 Boylesports

Draw – 3.30 Bet365

West Ham United – 3.35 Expekt.com

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Over 3.5 Goals (4 Goals or More) – 3.40 Boylesports