Week 2 of the Premiership has arrived, although it is no less exciting. This weekend Manchester City travel to the Reebok, in our first (of many) Northwest derbies of the season. This has been billed as a top of the table clash, which is technically true as City were the only other club to win by more than a 1 goal margin, and they also smashed 4 unanswered goals past new promoted opponents. This means that this game will be highly competitive, and if the last round of results is anything to go by, high scoring.
The spotlight for this fixture will of course be on Sergio Aguero, who is no stranger to the Reebok. He scored a brace in his debut for Manchester City last Monday, but the focus of all Wanderers' fans will be Aguero's visit with Athletico Madrid in February 2008. After just 14 minutes on the pitch, Aguero was shown a straight red card after spitting at our own Matty Taylor. Bolton went on to win that match 1-0, but Aguero will be looking for quite a different result. Manchester City showed some quality in their ranks, as was evident by the 4-0 scoreline. They of course, won the corresponding fixture on the closing day of last season 2-0, however this is their only win at the Reebok in the last 6 games there. Hart and his formidable back line, including the infamous De Jong, will prove tough to score against.
But this is a Bolton team that rather likes to score. Despite several pundits saying they weren't sure where the goals would come from, the team that had a very successful preseason seemed to translate that into the Premiership. There is no doubt that with the exit of Elmander, Ivan Klasnic would have to step up, but after his extremely fruitful preseason and a goal on opening day, he looks to be attempting to fill this hole. This is basically the same Wanderers team as last season, but it does have a wonderful coach in Owen Coyle, who is used to making do with what he has.
This does look to be one of the tastiest fixtures of the weekend. While neither side is exactly established as a top team, both seem to be approaching this season with nice, attacking football. Coyle himself said
"We will show Manchester City the respect they deserve, but is this a game we can win? Yes, of course, but we will need to be at our maximum."
Fingers crossed that Bolton at at their "maximum" and this should be a good show. Come on you White Men!