Wolverhampton Wanderers V Bolton Wanderers Betting

Wolverhampton Wanderers V Bolton Wanderers

Kick-off: Saturday 5^th December – 15:00 GMT

Venue: Molineux

Wolverhampton Wanderers

League Position: 14th

Recent Form: DLDWL

We all pretty much knew that Wolves, despite winning The Championship by a comfortable margin, were going to struggle to compete in arguably the most gruelling league in European. However, their fall from grace happened almost immediately and they’ve now opened up an eight game run without a win, with defeats an unfortunate occurrence. Now it’s down to Mick McCarthy, a manager who has previously failed to defy the drop as a manager in the Premiership, to perform a minor miracle which is keeping Wolves a float, or at least putting them into a position where they can actually fight for their league status.

Wolves are one of the poorest sides in the league, thee poorest in our honest opinion, and every opponent licks their licks at the prospect of facing Wolves as they clearly lack the quality to compete at the very highest level. When you look through their squad, no one really stands out, but Mick McCarthy has been dealt dreadful news that Michael Kightly, probably Wolves’ most creative player in the centre of the park, will miss out on first team action for at least eight weeks. That’s a tremendous blow for a team which is wafer thin as it is.

Wolves 2-1 Fulham – The last, and one of just two, fixtures have won this season, that rare success coming nine fixtures ago. Since then, Mick McCarthy and the Wolves fans have had to endure Wolves go on a dire run of five defeats and three draws. What’s more, three of those five defeats came at Molineux,two of which came against less than average opposition in Birmingham (0-1) and Portsmouth (0-1). In both defeats they failed to score, and scoring goals wherever they end up has been a big problem for Wolves, with their blunt attacking line locating the goal on just 12 occasions this season, just the five actually coming at Molineux.

Wolves have failed to score in nearly half of their home fixtures, (3/7) whilst it should have been four were it not for their late goal against Arsenal, of which they were thumped 4-1. Only once have they managed to surpass the one goal mark in a home fixture, that being a 2-1 victory over Fulham, their only home victory to date this season. Their attack looks clueless, although Ebanks-Blake does potentially have talent, whilst their defence is so easy to carve open it’s quite unreal.

Both Chelsea & Arsenal have put four each past Wolves and with the defeat at home to Birmingham still fresh in the memory, the confidence within the camp must be at a serious and alarming low. Mick McCarthy did mention this in a midweek interview but with serious Premiership quality at a premium, it’s hard to see where Wolves will find this new found belief because we can only foresee more worse results over the horizon, possibly continuing with Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

Bolton Wanderers

League Position: 7th

Recent Form: LWLDD

Bolton were get too many easier opportunities to win an away fixture then a trip to Molineux to face a terrible Wolves outfit. However, Bolton themselves haven’t exactly been in inspired form, without a win in four games, so perhaps this isn’t as clear cut as we might have thought. However, Bolton are more then accomplished at getting results in the six point encounters and we quite fancy the odds on a Bolton win this Saturday, although their severe dip in form will restrict our stake.

Wolves maybe 19^th in the league table but Bolton aren’t that much better off in 18^th, just two points above Wolves but now two points away from safety. That now means that a draw on Saturday wouldn’t be enough to relieve Bolton of their relegation status so only a win will do if they are desperate to banish their bottom three settlement. However, we’re asking Bolton to achieve a feat they haven’t reached in four league outings, and that’s win a fixture.

It was five games ago when Bolton last won a Premiership meeting, that being a close run thing at home to Everton, winning 3-2 after previous leading 2-0. Although Everton’s in vein revival in that Reebok encounter did come to nothing, it does appear it’s had a lasting affect as Bolton have struggled to pick up points since. They immediately went on to lose three games on the bounce, two of which were at home, whilst their point baron run did come to an last weekend when they worked their socks off to earn a point at Fulham, a very creditable point when you consider that teams such as Liverpool have fallen at the Cottage this season.

Although Bolton aren’t the most technically gifted of sides, neither are their opponents, and it will be Bolton’s superior strength and battle like qualities that will over oar Wolves at Molineux. When times are rough, Bolton’s big boys tend to get going and the likes of Kevin Davies, Ivan Klasnic & Matty Taylor, the latter being an inspirational purchase over the last season or so, often producing big game performances when it really matters. There is no getting away that this is a six-pointer, and Bolton have been used to these types of matches for years now. They have bags of experience within their ranks, whilst Wolves are still fairly young. These factors should all work in their favour as Bolton aim to seize on a glorious point producing opportunity.

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

Wolverhampton Wanderers W: 0 Bolton Wanderers W: 0 Draws: 0

This has never been a regular encounter in the Premiership, mainly due to the fact that Wolves have spent most of their days in The Championship. However, six years ago, back in the 2003/2004 season, the pair did clash twice and it was Bolton who came up trumps… just. Bolton recorded a 2-1 victory at Molineux, but Wolves did managed to record a rare point at The Reebok in a 1-1 draw.

A lot has changed since the pair last met so perhaps the above results means next to nothing.

Match Verdict:- Bolton Wanderers to WIN – 3.30 Boylesports

A massive game for both teams, a match which probably isn’t going to be pretty, but one which both sides are desperate to win as winnable game such as this don’t come around that often in the Premiership. Bolton are more acclimatised to these types of games and that’s why they get the vote, as well as Wolves being the poorest team in the Premiership by some distance. Three points are going to be hard to come by for Wolves this season, while the same could be said for Bolton, but Bolton are a tough, versatile side and they know how to battle and grind out a result.

Match Odds:

Wolverhampton Wanderers – 2.40 SportingBet

Draw – 3.20 WilliamHill

Bolton Wanderers – 3.30 Boylesports

SoccerBetting Value Tip: