Eng. Championship
2013-02-16 - Nottingham Forest vs Bolton Wanderers
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Saturday 16 February 2013 - Kick Off 3pm
Nottingham Forest
Billy Davies becomes the third manager to take charge at the City Ground this season and he has come with a lot of confidence that he can guide Nottingham Forest into the Premier League. It will take a monumental effort from Forest to make the Play Offs this season so the fans will be looking for an improvement in the side that has struggled ever since the owners decided to remove Sean O'Driscoll as manager.
Nottingham Forest are 13th in the Championship table and they have 9 points to make up on Middlesbrough if they are to make the Play Offs. They have a 7-4-4 record at home in the League this season, scoring 21 goals and conceding 19 in those games.
Since firing O'Driscoll, Nottingham Forest have won just 1 game in their last 8 and Alex McLeish decided to walk from the job because of a lack of understanding on transfer deals that should have been concluded in January. Forest have won 1 of their last 4 games at home and they have lost 2 of their last 3 including a 0-3 loss to Watford last time out at the City Ground.
Bolton Wanderers
Relegation has been hard on all of the sides that came down from the Premier League last season and Bolton Wanderers are another that have failed to mount an effective promotion bid. In fact, for a long time it seemed that Bolton were going to be involved in a relegation scrap, although they are hoping their derby win over Burnley last week is a spark for the final three months of the season.
The side moved up to 17th in the Championship with their win last weekend and that means Bolton have opened up a 3 point lead over Barnsley in the final relegation place. They have a poor 2-5-8 record on their travels this season, scoring 20 goals and conceding 28 in those games.
Bolton had failed to win any of their last 4 games in the Championship before the win over Burnley last weekend. Their away win has been even worse as they have won just 1 of their last 11 games on their travels in the Championship, while they have lost 3 of their last 4. Bolton had a 0-1 lead at Watford in their last away game before being beaten 2-1.
Head to Head
Bolton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest drew 2-2 at the Reebok Stadium earlier this season.
This is the first game between the sides at the City Ground since the 2000/01 season when Bolton won 0-2 here.
Prediction
Billy Davies' arrival at Nottingham Forest should have some sort of impact on the side, but they have been conceding plenty of goals recently at home, while also being fairly open in an attacking sense and creating chances.
Some of the more recent Bolton Wanderers away games haven't been the most exciting, but the over 2.5 goals looks a little overpriced at 1.95 in this one.
The Pick :
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Bolton Wanderers
