Man City V Bolton

Manchester City V Bolton Wanderers

Saturday, 4th December – 15:00 (GMT)

Venue: City of Manchester

Manchester City

After making progress in the UEFA Europa League on Wednesday, with Manchester City now guaranteed to be involved with European football in 2011, the Citizens can now focus all of their attention of enhancing their claims for a Champions League berth by lamenting their current placing in the top-four. Roberto Mancini rubbished reports just last month that the club had set ambitious targets of landing the Premier League crown at the end of the season, but City have hardly displayed the form of a team baring top-four credentials, drawing three of their last four league fixtures, and with those directly behind beginning to get ahead of steam, theirs genuine concern for an exposed City team who can’t seem to string a run of results together in the Premier League right now.

Wednesday’s Europa League group clash with Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg was a must-win encounter for Man City, and respect to the players and manager Roberto Mancini as they all treated the game as just that. Mancini fielded a strong XI without risking top scorer Carlos Tevez and the Italian reaped the rewards with a comprehensive 3-0 victory, as temperamental striker Mario Balotelli scored his second brace of the season before Adam Johnson added the cherry late on as City sealed their place in the knock-outs, which don not commence until after the New Year.

So now it’s back to the bread and butter for Roberto Mancini and his team; the Premier League, where the Citizens find themselves in a healthy position despite their recent league form not being up to scratch. They had three priceless point stolen from then at the Brittania last Saturday as the Potters scored in the 90th minute to earn a share of the spoils, but there are concerns all around Eastlands after City could only conjure a point for the third time in their last four league matches. But, above all else, two whole months will have passed by the time Saturday comes around since Manchester City last celebrated a winning result on home soil and while City have done well to open up a five-match run without losing in the Premier League, when you’re challenging at the top end of the table it is all about winning and at the present time, City haven’t been doing that and thus aren’t meeting their objectives. Ironically, it was about this time in the season, and for similar reasons, that former manager Mark Hughes was sacked. Roberto Mancini claims he’s under no pressure and that his job isn’t under threat, which we believe to be true to an extent, but the pressure is definitely building around Eastlands, and on one man in particular.

Mancini must feel like the entire world is out to get him, as well as the footballing Gods. Mario Balotelli has scored four goals in his last two competitive starts and after bagging another two during the week, both the manager and the fans were desperate to see him in action at the weekend, but the Italian picked up a hamstring injury on Wednesday and is now unlikely to feature on Saturday. Nonetheless, Roberto Mancini will have an embarrassment of riches to pick from and it’s just as well considering they haven’t won any of their previous three home fixtures in the Premier League on top of the fact Saturday’s opponents are enjoying a rich vein of form and are only three points worse off.

Bolton Wanderers

Bolton are on the verge of greatness ahead of Saturday’s visit to Manchester for their eagerly awaited clash with Man City. Well, not quite, but manager Owen Coyle is building something pretty special at the Reebok, with his team bathing in the plaudits courtesy of a luxurious spell in the top-six – the territory which rewards European football at the end of the season. Should the Trotters, who have lost just two league matches thus far, avoid defeat at Eastlands on Saturday, then they’ll have equalled their longest ever unbeaten away run in the Premier League, when ironically Man City were the fifth match Bolton managed to avoid a fifth successive lose in back in 2005. A cosy little statistic to go with a tidy league position as well as a hugely impressive start to the campaign from Owen Coyle’s side.

Pundits don’t come more fickle than us, with our views on this season’s version of the ‘surprise package’ often changing from week to week, but Bolton have claimed full rights to such a tag for a while now and the longer they maintain their superb start to the season, the more they lament their claims for such a prestigious award. Sarcasm aside, Bolton really have bolted out of the stalls this season with manager Owen Coyle clearly having worked wonders with what is a fairly ordinary squad. We’ve also had a lot of compliments and kind words for Coyle this season, mainly because he turned a Bolton side threatened with relegation when he jfirst joined nearly a year ago into one genuinely pushing for a European finish, with a top-ten finish now shaping up as a minimum target for the Trotters.

However, Coyle has also turned Bolton into a very attractive football proposition and we were treated to something special at the Reebok last weekend, where Bolton needed to come from 2-0 down to snatch a share of the spoils against Blackpool. Two sublime goals from Martin Petrov, a well-placed shot from outside the area, and Mark Davies, who finished off a wonderful move in Barcelona-esque fashion. And we’d never thought we say that about a team containing Johan Elmander, who ironically is the club’s top scorer this season with 8 goals and is even being linked with the likes of Liverpool, although, at this rate, a move to Merseyside would be a significant step down.

For most sides, a trip to the City of Manchester to face the province’s newest playboy’s would be a daunting prospect, but the Trotters have been a reslient sort away from home this season, albeit against weaker opposition than that of a City team which cost somewhere around £300 to assemble. Nevertheless, we’re in a results business and while Bolton’s away run of five games without loss has been built mainly upon draws, four were stalemates against Aston Villa, West Brom, Wigan Athletic and Everton, with the other being a 3-2 win over 19th Wolves, you cannot underestimate the power of a team with a strong will and desire to protect an impressive run.

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Form

Manchester City

Europa League: Manchester City 3-0 Red Bull Salzburg

Premier League: Stoke City 1-1 Manchester City

Premier League: Fulham 1-4 Manchester City

Premier League: Manchester City 0-0 Birmingham City

Premier League: Manchester City 0-0 Manchester United

Bolton Wanderers

Premier League: Bolton Wanderers 2-2 Blackpool

Premier League: Bolton Wanderers 5-1 Newcastle United

Premier League: Wolves 2-3 Bolton Wanderers

Premier League: Everton 1-1 Bolton Wanderers

Premier League: Bolton Wanderers 4-2 Tottenham Hotspur

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Statistics

Manchester City

League Position: 4th

Win/Draw/Lose: 7-5-3 (Home: 3-3-1)

Goal Difference: 20-12 (Home: 7-5)

Form: WDDWD (Home: WWLDD)

Top Goalscorer: Carlos Tevez (9)

Bolton Wanderers

League Position: 6th

Win/Draw/Lose: 5-8-2 (Away: 2-4-1)

Goal Difference: 28-22 (Away: 11-11)

Form: WDWWD (Away: DDDDW)

Top Goalscorer: Johan Elmander (8)

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Match Odds

Manchester City – 1.57 WilliamHill

Draw – 4.00 Bet365

Bolton Wanderers - 7.00 PaddyPower

The English Premier League

Midweek Fixtures

Tuesday, 9^th February 2009

19:45 GMT – Manchester City (1.44 Bet365) V Bolton Wanderers (9.00 SkyBet)

19:45 GMT – Portsmouth (2.50 PaddyPower) V Sunderland (3.20 VCbet)

19:45 GMT – Wigan Athletic (2.25 Boylesports) V Stoke City (3.60 VCbet)

20:00 GMT – Fulham (1.73 Bet365) V Burnley (5.50 PaddyPower)

Wednesday, 10^th February

19:45 GMT – Arsenal (2.10 Bet365) V Liverpool (3.90 Expekt) ARSENAL V LIVERPOOL DETAILED PREVIEW!

19:45 GMT – Aston Villa (4.30 VCbet) V Manchester United (1.91 Boylesports) VILLA V MAN UNITED DETAILED PREVIEW

19:45 GMT – West Ham United (2.30 PaddyPower) V Birmingham City (3.50 Coral)

19:45 GMT – Wolverhampton Wanderers (4.50 SkyBet) V Tottenham Hotspur (1.91 Bet365)

20:00 GMT – Blackburn Rovers (1.91 VCbet) V Hull City (4.50 Boylesports)

20:00 GMT – Everton (5.50 BlueSquare) V Chelsea (1.73 Bet365)

Live Games:

Manchester City V Bolton Wanderers – Sky Sports 2

Arsenal V Liverpool - Sky Sports 2

The live action kicks off with Man City entertaining Owen Coyle’s Bolton at The City of Manchester stadium as the home side aim to bounce straight back from their shock defeat to Hill City at the weekend. The blue half of Manchester are still dreaming of Champions League football for next season, but could find themselves settling for The Europa League if City‘s performances don’t improve, starting with the arrival of Bolton Wanderers, a side who themselves cannot afford to drop too many points, with Bolton hovering just above the relegation zone. A victory for Man City would lift them above Liverpool and into fourth position, their target destination, whereas defeat for Bolton could see them go into the weekends fixtures in the relegation zone if results elsewhere don’t go in their favour. Another shock, however, an away win for Bolton, could lift Bolton as high as 14^th in the table.

No doubt the fixture which has the most appeal, especially with neutral viewers, is the Arsenal V Liverpool clash which will be shown LIVE on Sky Sports on Wednesday night. Arsenal, after yet another defeat to a title rival, pin their revival challenge on a victory over Liverpool on Wednesday night as The Gunners fall nine points off the pace after their 2-0 loss at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Liverpool, though, have their own reasons, equally as important, as to why they desperately need all three points as they aim to cement their top four stance with their first win at The Emirates since 2000. Liverpool are having to fend off the challenge from Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa & Man City for a Champions League berth next season and will boost their chances of finishing in fourth spot immensely with victory over The Gunners. A victory for the away side, a Liverpool WIN, would also bring Arsenal right back into the equation and loosen up two Champions League spots instead of the solitary one the teams have been chasing for the past two or so months. A big game in which a win for either side could have a huge impact on how the positions at the top of the table could be finalised.

The rest of the action goes as follows; Portsmouth, a team who appeared destined for the drop after news of yet more financial unrest, take on Sunderland at Fratton Park in a home fixture they just have to win. However, you wouldn’t fancy either sides chances, with Pompey losing five of their previous six league encounters and Sunderland not winning a Premiership fixture since the middle of November, going eleven games without a win. With this in mind, perhaps a small punt on the draw (3.30 Boylesports) could be worthwhile?

It’s a relegation six-pointer at The DW stadium as Bolton take on Wigan Athletic in a must win clash for either side. For now, though, both are on dry land but a loss for either side could see them spend the rest of this week in the bottom three. Home advantage does make Wigan the favourites, although they haven’t won in three at home, while Bolton won’t attract too many punters after not managing an away win since September, going seven games without any success on the road. Also, both teams are still searching for their first win of 2010. Not another draw (3.40 Boylesports), surely?

Fulham are going through an indifferent spell of late but have now opened up another potential unbeaten run after going two games unbeaten following their 0-0 draw away at Bolton. A win for the Cottagers would keep them in the upper half of the table until the weekend. Their opponents, however, are struggling to fend off the relegation zone but did give their chances a big boost with victory over West Ham United on Saturday, winning 2-1 at Turf Moor. However, Burnley are big ‘underdogs’ in this contest as they haven’t won an away fixture all season, losing 11 of 12 away Premiership fixtures.

A stuttering Aston Villa play host to a Manchester United side on fire at the moment. Villa have managed just one league victory in their last six, which is in stark contrast to their opponents who have won four on the trot, five in their last seven and are unbeaten in seven games. However, Villa are on the verge of completing an historic league double over United but are in need of a big performance to beat the Premiership champions on Wednesday night. Defeat for Villa would dampen their charge for a top four finish while victory for United would keep the pressure on Chelsea, perhaps even take them top if Chelsea don’t produce the goods elsewhere at Goodison.

West Ham meet Birmingham at Upton Park in a rare meeting for both sides. However, it’s Birmingham who arrive with the better form after returning to winning ways with a 2-1 win at home to Wolves. The Hammers, however, succumbed to their eleventh defeat of the campaign as they lost 2-1 at Burnley. West Ham are desperate for points though, but will need a mammoth display to overhaul Birmingham, whom have lost just once in fourteen league fixtures. However, West Ham are unbeaten in three at Upton Park and are boosted by their flurry of forward arrivals in January, so perhaps the home side can overpower a tough and resilient Birmingham side.

Wolves go seeking a first win in seven as they entertain a Tottenham side who have drawn far too many games recently. However, the same could be said for Wolves in terms of losing games, with Wolves losing four of their last five league games, whilst Tottenham have drawn four of their last seven. However, surely Tottenham will be fired up for this encounter and should be good for the win in the knowledge that they must avenge the home defeat they suffered at the hands of Wolves back in December. The problem for Spurs though, has been scoring goals, with Harry Redknapp‘s side scoring just one in their last three away outings. Wolves haven’t been much cop in front of goal either, with Mick McCarthy‘s men not scoring a single goal in any of their last three home fixtures. Perhaps a drab affair (Under 2.5 Goals – 1.85 SportingBet) could be on the cards at Molineux?

Another potential six-pointer as Blackburn welcome the arrival of Hull City in a game they will be supremely confident of getting all three points in. Rovers have played their best football, and gotten the vast majority of their points, in home games this season and should be too strong, on paper anyway, for their opponents, Hull, who haven’t won away from The KC stadium all season. Hull were annihilated in their last away fixture, losing 4-0 at Man City, and they could fall to a similar fate at Ewood Park as Blackburn Rovers have won their last two fixtures at home, beating both Fulham & Wigan Athletic. An away win is big, but tasty nevertheless, and it’s not asking an awful lot to expect a big performance from the Tigers after their weekend heroics over Man City, beating the mega-rich Manchester club 2-1 at The KC on Saturday.

Another eye-catching fixture is the last on the card – Everton V Chelsea. I’m sure most of you will remember the problems Everton caused Chelsea’s defence in the earlier meeting between the two at Stamford Bridge of which Everton scored three. Of course, Chelsea did put the same amount past Tim Howard but it was Everton who claimed the plaudits that day and are still to this day the only team to have taken anything away from Stamford Bridge. However, the two sides had contrasting results at the weekend, with Everton losing a bitter derby contest with Liverpool and Chelsea winning their London derby with Arsenal. Everton were, though, unbeaten in nine before their loss at Anfield, but has the momentum been lost and will Chelsea continue their surge as they set out to make it six wins in seven in the Premiership.