English Premier
2010-03-27 - Bolton Wanderers vs Manchester United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: England, Premier League
Saturday, 27th March 2010 - Kickoff 5:30pm
Bolton Wanderers
Owen Coyle will be hoping he has bottled the magic formula to beat Manchester United after doing the very thing with Burnley 1-0 earlier this season and getting his second shot with his new club. Bolton's form has picked up recently although Coyle will certainly want a reaction from the disappointing 2-0 defeat at Everton last week.
Bolton are now sitting in 14th in the Premier League table and have an 8 point gap to Burnley and Hull in the relegation zone. They are likely only a couple of wins away from guaranteeing their safety this season after recent good performances at the Reebok Stadium. So far they are 5-5-5 there, scoring 22 goals and conceding 23.
With 3 wins from their last 5 Premier League games, Owen Coyle has seen his side click into shape and move away from the bottom of the table. They have particularly picked up here with 3 League wins from their last 4 games there since Coyle lost his first game in charge there against Arsenal. Bolton have also picked up 4 clean sheets in the last 4 games at the Reebok, but they did lose to Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea here this season.
Gretar Steinsson misses the game through suspension. Gavin McCann is also likely to miss out through injury.
Manchester United
Manchester United are ahead by a nose in the title race and will be hoping that they can pull away if earlier results go their way. The race for the title hots up this week as teams begin to contend with European commitments on a weekly basis, but United have the experience of doing this for the last 3 seasons and will feel confident after beating Liverpool 2-1 last weekend.
Chelsea cut United's lead at the top of the table to 1 point with a victory in midweek and that makes the game between the 2 sides next weekend that much bigger. United are 8-2-5 away from Old Trafford this season, scoring 28 goals and conceding 16 meaning only 2 sides have conceded less in away games than them.
United are beginning to pick up steam as the season winds down with 6 straight wins in all competitions since losing 3-1 at Everton. Since that defeat the likes of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand have returned to the side and they have only conceded 2 goals in those 6 games. They have only lost 1 of their last 6 away Premier League games and won 0-1 at Wolves last time out with a little bit of fortune.
Wes Brown remains missing from the side with an injury, although there was some good news with Owen Hargreaves getting that much closer to returning to the squad. Ryan Giggs is available again after making an appearance against Liverpool last week and we can expect some changes with Bayern Munich in mind.
Head to Head
Manchester United have won 9 of the last 10 matches against Bolton including the last 4 in a row.
United have won 3 of the last 4 at the Reebok Stadium but the matches have been generally close. In fact United have won 4 of the last 7 at the Reebok, 3 of those by only 1 goal. Bolton have won 1 of those matches.
The corresponding fixture last season was settled by a late goal from Dimitar Berbatov as United took it 0-1.
Prediction
Bolton Wanderers have been proving tough to beat at home in recent games, but those games against sides they would have expected to have done well against. They have struggled against the big 4 when they have visited here but the fact this is a local derby gives the game another edge.
Manchester United have looked strong in recent weeks as they look to make history of being the first 4 in a row winners of the top flight of English football. The side is packed with the experience of winning trophies which should keep them focused even with a big Champions League game on the horizon.
Sir Alex Ferguson will expect to pick up the 3 points here and go into the game with Chelsea leading the Premier League table. This has proved a tough venue for United to visit in recent seasons, but they have picked up the wins and I feel they will again. I think the value may lie in picking United to win by 1 goal, a winning bet in 3 of their last 4 victories.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Bolton Wanderers 1-2 Manchester United
