Match Preview: Bolton Wanderers vs Aston Villa

Following on from last week’s draw at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton Wanderers are back at home to take on high flying Aston Villa.

The game will live on Sky Sports, as Wanderers could go nine points clear of the bottom three should results go their way.

Meanwhile, Villa will see the game as the perfect opportunity to close the gap on second place Cardiff City, after falling seven points behind because of Tuesday’s defeat to QPR.

Wanderers have won just two of their last ten home meetings against Villa, the last being a 3-2 comeback win seven years ago.

That being said, Bolton have won three of the last six meetings between the two sides in all competitions.

The last time these sides met in Bolton in a league match outside the top flight was in August 1974 - Bolton won 1-0 with a goal from legendary centre back, Paul Jones.

With expectations placed solely on Villa to win the game, can Wanderers cause an upset? Who knows. But if they want to, they’ll have to continue playing like they did at Reading and Sheffield Wednesday. Another home performance like we saw against Preston would spell defeat.

Team News

David Wheater, Mark Little and Josh Vela could all be in contention to return after missing out against Reading and Sheffield Wednesday. Nigerian international Chinedu Obasi could make the bench, as he scored his second goal in as many games for the U23s on Monday. Darren Pratley is a doubt, having picked up a knock in training.

Villa are struggling with injuries at the moment. Axel Tuanzebe, Alan Hutton and Neil Taylor will all miss the game. Jonathan Kodjia and Jed Steer are Villa’s long term absentees.

Form

Bolton - LWDLDD

Villa - LDWWWL

Odds

Unsurprisingly, Villa are the odds on favourites to win the game at 17/20. A Wanderers win is 19/5, whilst a draw is 12/5.

Match Prediction

With Villa desperate to close the gap on the automatic promotion places, I think they’ll be too strong for Wanderers. 1-2 Villa.