Prediction: Bolton vs Blackburn

11th December 2010

Bolton ended the impressive run of results as they lost to City at Eastlands and the Trotters now aim to return to winning ways as they play host to Blackburn. Rovers recovered well from the humiliating defeat at Old Trafford to beat Wolves at Ewood Park, but they now face another difficult away game.

Owen Coyle has managed to do something similar to what Sam Allardyce had done at Reebok stadium as both men turned genuine Premiership strugglers into a top team, but with a big difference being that Coyle’s Bolton is much more entertaining than the Allardyce’s one. The Trotters had no problems ditching their long-ball tactics and they starting turning on the style this season, and probably not even Owen Coyle himself could have predicted such a successful start to his career at Reebok. Bolton not only win games on their home ground, but they regularly pick up points from the travels and they are really looking like a top table side at the moment. Their big advantage over the opponents is that they can play a slick passing game when needed but can also become physical and start hoofing the long balls to Davies and Elmander if the time is running out, and that is something not too many Premiership teams can boast of having. Looking at the Trotters home record this season, they have got to be considered favourites against Blackburn, even of Stuart Holden fails to recover in time, as Mark Davies proved to be a worth replacement for the American.

We can now see the Blackburn owners were spot on in their decision to replace Paul Ince with Sam Allardyce some two years back as the former Bolton boss has managed to constantly exceed expectations with Rovers since, despite having a pretty restricted transfer budget. Not too many coaches in England would have been able to keep Rovers above the danger zone with the squad he had had at his disposal, but in all fairness, Big Sam only did what he had done at Bolton, relying on team’s physical strength and long-ball tactics. This is exactly how Blackburn defeated Wolves last weekend and I have no doubts they will try to do the same against Bolton. However, let’s not forget that the Trotters know how to cope with the physical style of play, having relied on this themselves for so long, while we can all agree that Blackburn are far inferior to their opponents when it comes to technical skills. On top of that, Rovers will be without Keith Andrews, Steven Nzonzi and Vince Grella, so they are highly unlikely to improve the poor away record.

Conclusion

Bolton have been showing no signs of slowing down lately and judging by their recent home showings, Blackburn should be a walk in the park for them. Rovers are also doing well this season but they have major problems on the road and Reebok is definitely not the place where they should be looking to improve the dismal away run.

Verdict: Home win Bolton (1)

Best Odds: 11/10

Bookmaker: Paddy Power