ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - BOLTON WANDERERS V SUNDERLAND AFC

English Premier

2008-05-03 - Bolton Wanderers vs Sunderland AFC

A Sports Betting Pick by chappers

Bolton Wanderers v Sunderland AFC
- English Premier League -
Reebok
3rd May 2008 KO 5.15PM (live on Setanta)

Bolton Wanderers (16th EPL)
Played 36 with 33 points

For a team who managed to make it into the UEFA cup last season, this season has to go down as a massive disappointment and with two games to go it could get a whole lot worse. I have to be honest once Big Sam left and was replaced by Sammy Lee, I did fear the worst for Bolton even before a ball was kicked. Sammy didn’t last all that long and Gary Megson took over the reigns and for a while they picked up some points, but it all started to go wrong again in the month of March and now once more Bolton see that relegation is staring them in the face.

Bolton have a record this season of 8-9-19 which means that they have lost 52% of the time and as such it's pretty obvious why the team are fighting to stay up. However at home they have won six times and this is one more than say Boro, but Boro find themselves three points better off.

The one good thing that Bolton have in their favour and that is their current form which has now seen them go unbeaten in three games and they have won two out of the last three beating West Ham at the Reebok and a great away win at the Riverside where they also won by 1-0. Last week saw them get a decent draw away at Spurs and move out of the bottom three, After the awful month of March which saw them lose four out of five and draw the other one. I think that every Bolton fan out there would have given their right arm to be two games from the end of the season and outside the bottom three and knowing that if they win this game they could be safe for another season at least.

Sunderland(13th EPL)
Played 36 with 39 points

At times this season has been hard but I've always said that success was always going to be that the team stayed up and that is the case. People can mention the money that the club has spent but when you consider that Sunderland have had 19 point and 15 point seasons in their last two visits to the top flight then I think that the current 39 points more than justifies the so called big money spent. At the start of the season I predicted that Sunderland would get 43 points and with two games to go that total is still possible but I think that most Sunderland fans will already be looking towards next season and hopefully something along the lines of a mid table finish.

Sunderland have lost the same amount of games as Bolton but the big difference between the two is the win column for Sunderland which shows 11 and with a few more draws then Sunderland could have confirmed safety a few weeks ago. While over the season the away record of Sunderland shows 2-3-13 (which is the same amount of away wins that Spurs have) it has only been recently that the away form has really been sorted out with a last six record of 2-1-3 so on current away form there does not seem any reason why Sunderland couldn’t get something from this game.

Current form has been a mixed bag and late goals at home to both West Ham and Boro have meant that along with wins away Villa and Fulham that Sunderland have picked up four wins from the last six games, however defeats to both Manchester City (1-2) and Newcastle (2-0) did put the pressure back on and the thought of relegation did cross my mind. That has now gone and we will be hoping to finish the season strongly but since we have Arsenal next week, I really do think that this could be the last chance for some points this season.

Head to Head

Sunderland have a decent enough record away at Bolton with two wins from the last four but you do have to go back to 2001 to see Sunderland pick up the three points. Last time the two teams met at the Reebok saw Bolton win 2-0 but don’t forget this was against a team who only managed 15 points all season.

Verdict

This game was moved to the TV as everyone at the time thought that this would be a relegation battle with the team who loses more than likely going down, however as I’ve said Sunderland have picked up twelve points from a possible eighteen and as such have confirmed their top flight status for another season.

So this game is really all about Bolton as they now have safety in their own hands a win in this game could also keep them up, however the pressure is only on one team and with Bolton having to play Chelsea at Stamford bridge then if they don’t get three points in this game they could see the drop come in a week's time.

I've heard that Sunderland while still putting out a strong team, might just stick a couple of youngsters in the team, but even so I think that will Sunderland having no pressure and Bolton needing the win, this might just make it three away wins for Sunderland this season.

While Bolton have a lot of motivation to win this game, I don’t think that Sunderland will sit back and let the hard work of this season just come to an end, as there is meant to be a fair bit of cash available next season and as such I think the players will still have to stay focused if they want to remain in the team for next season. For me Sunderland priced at 5.00 seems a must.

So pick Sunderland at a stunning price of 5.00 and Ha'way the lads.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Pick Sunderland to win @ 5.00

GOONER's EDIT:
5.00? You can get prices as high as 6.40 now mate !