English Premier
2011-08-21 - Bolton vs Manchester City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Premier League
Sunday 21 August 2011 - Kickoff 4pm
This game is live on TV
Bolton
After a Summer of more goings than comings at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton were considered one of the dark horse for relegation this season. The likes of Johann Elmander and Daniel Sturridge are no longer at the club and there was a fear that a lack of goalscorers could hurt them.
However, there seemed to be a lot brighter view of their prospects following a 0-4 win at Loftus Road on the opening day of the season, although the club will be desperate to keep hold of Gary Cahill in this transfer window. Bolton proved a tough nut to crack in front of their own fans last season, finishing with a 10-5-4 record, scoring 34 goals and conceding 24.
Bolton were actually beaten in their final 2 games at the Reebok Stadium last season, including to their opponents today, after winning 5 in a row. Some of that can be put down to the fact that they lost their way a little following an FA Cup Semi Final defeat to Stoke.
Tuncay may be available if his work permit arrives in time, while Ricardo Gardner needs a late fitness test. Stuart Holden is still on his road to recovery following a leg break last year.
Manchester City
The rumours are that Samir Nasri will not be signing with Manchester City after all, but the fans should still be very pleased with the business of bringing in Sergio Aguero. The Argentinian was signed to replace his compatriot Carlos Tevez, and made a real impact when scoring 2 and creating 1 in the 4-0 win over Swansea.
That win certainly showed City are a title challenger this season, although they did labour their way through the first half. It will be interesting to see if Roberto Mancini employs a much more positive approach to games from the beginning rather than during the match as 2 holding midfielders at home against Swansea is not really the way forward in my opinion.
City finished last season with the joint most away wins in the League along with Arsenal. They had a 8-4-7 record, scoring 26 goals and conceding 21, although they did win just 2 of their last 9 away games.
Sergio Aguero could be given a starting spot thanks to his sparkling debut last week, while Carlos Tevez is fit and may even be placed on the bench for this game.
Head to Head
Manchester City have won 4 of their last 5 games against Bolton, but 3 of those wins have come at the newly named Etihad Stadium.
City won here 0-2 on the final day of last season, but they had failed to beat their North West rivals in 5 previous visits.
These two teams enjoyed a really entertaining game here a couple of seasons ago, drawing 3-3, but that is the only game in 9 that has finished with more than 2 goals at the Reebok Stadium.
Prediction
It was a very decent 2nd half performance by Manchester City last week, but it was against a obviously tired Swansea side that were making their Premier League bow.
City did not play well away from home in the latter part of last season and their 2 wins from 9 games seriously puts me off backing them to win this game at odds on.
Bolton are a tough place to visit, but goals could be their big issue this season especially against a well organised team like Manchester City. I expect them to make it tough for their visitors, but City do have the magic to unlock defences but I am not prepared to find out at prices of 1.80.
Instead I will play the Under 2.5 goals which has been a feature of matches at the Reebok between the two sides, and one that could come in if the expected goal scoring issues for the home team, and the cautious approach of the away team are on view.
At bigger prices than the straight up away win, I will chance it.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Bolton 0-1 Manchester City
