Prediction: West Brom vs Bolton

1st October 2010

Having inflicted Arsenal their first defeat of the season, West Brom enter the match on a high, looking to remain in the top part of the table. Bolton will also have something to build on after the impressive performance against Manchester United and you shouldn’t be surprised if Owen Coyle’s men get something from this match as well.

West Bromwich Albion are enjoying their best ever start to the Premiership campaign, with 10 points from first 6 games much better result than anyone have expected. Roberto Di Matteo’s team are currently on a three-match winning run after the shock victory at the Emirates, but we cannot expect them to keep this kind of form for much longer. While their results have been quite impressive of late, the Baggies remain a side that will be fighting for survival and nothing more than that, so they have to take this game very seriously in order to continue the great run. The hosts face a very experienced Premier League team that look stronger than ever and I doubt they will be able to match the Trotters even if the game is played at their Hawthorns. Roman Bednar and Gabriel Tamas return to contention after recovering from thigh and calf injury respectively, but Marek Cech, Joe Mattock and Ishmael Miller are out with injuries.

There is probably nobody happier in England than Bolton fans as they can finally witness attractive attacking football at Reebok Stadium after the whole decade of long-ball tactics deployed by Sam Allardyce, Sammy Lee and especially Gary Megson. They clearly have Owen Coyle to thank to that the Trotters are finally playing football and recording decent results at the same time. The former Burnley boss looks set to do something that Roy Hodgson has done at Fulham and transform Bolton from relegation strugglers into the top table side. The talented boss has managed to get Bolton firing on all cylinders without upsetting the balance of the squad since the back line looks as solid as ever. With Johan Elmander finally waking up from his two-year sleep, and the Petrov-Lee wing partnership in full swing, the Trotters look more than capable of putting the Baggies under pressure, so maybe this is the opportunity for the second away win of the season.

Conclusion

There is absolutely no way West Brom can continue the rich vein of form and they face a really tough task against a new Bolton. The Trotters are expected to build on the top-notch performance against United and they certainly look like the favourites in this clash. The odds offered on away win are definitely worth a shot.

Verdict: Away win Bolton (2)

Best Odds: 14/5

Bookmaker: William Hill