Eng. Championship
2012-10-02 - Bolton Wanderers vs Leeds United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Tuesday 2 October 2012 - Kick Off 8pm
Bolton Wanderers
Just when I thought Bolton Wanderers had turned a corner for their manager Owen Coyle, they fell to their first home defeat of the season and the pressure has once again increased at the Reebok Stadium. This is a big game for them as another defeat will not be well received in front of their own supporters.
The defeat to Crystal Palace here at the weekend dropped Bolton down to 18th in the table, but it says a lot about this League that they have 10 points and are just 6 points behind the leaders Brighton coming into the game. Bolton are 2-1-1 at home this season, scoring 6 goals and conceding 4.
Bolton have continued with their inconsistent form to start this season and they have only won 2 of their last 7 games in all competitions. Their home defeat at the weekend was the first in 4 games at the Reebok Stadium as Bolton had previously scored 2 goals in each of their last 3 games before being blanked by Palace.
Benik Afobe is back in the squad after missing the weekend game with an injury. Marcus Alonso, David Wheater and Stuart Holden are all missing.
Leeds United
It would have been so easy for Leeds United to have a big let down in their level of performance following the Capital One Cup win over Everton, but that wasn't the case in a decent 2-3 win at Bristol City over the weekend. The level of opponent will increase again for Leeds, while there continue to be big rumours about a potential takeover off the field.
Leeds are now up to 9th in the Championship and their 13 points means they are within a win of the leading teams in this tight Division. Neil Warnock knows his side have been a little inconsistent so far this season as they bring in their 2-0-2 away record, scoring and conceding 7 goals in those games.
The side have actually won 3 games in a row in all competitions after previously failing to win any of 3 and that shows what kind of inconsistencies they have. Leeds have interchanged losses and wins this season away from home after ending last season with no wins from 3 away games and losing 2 of those games.
David Norris could be back in the squad for this game, but Ross McCormack and Paul Green are out.
Head to Head
This will be the first time these two teams have met since the 2003/04 season in the Premier League.
On that occasion, Bolton Wanderers beat Leeds United 4-1 at home despite trailing 0-1, although Leeds had won on 5 previous visits to Bolton before that loss.
Prediction
I don't know which of these teams will win the game, but there is plenty of things pointing to goals in the game and that is what I will be backing.
The last 9 Leeds United games has seen at least 3 goals shared by the teams and they have bot scored and conceded in the last 6 games. In fact, a closer look will show Leeds have scored at least 2 goals in 7 of their last 8 games while they have conceded at least 2 goals in 4 of their last 6.
Before the game on Saturday, Bolton Wanderers had also been in some high-scoring games with 6 in a row finishing with at least 3 goals being shared by them and their opponents. Bolton's failure to score on Saturday was also the first time in 8 games they had done that so I am expecting both teams to score in this one.
Historically this fixture has produced goals with the last 4 games finishing with at least 3 goals and 7 of the last 9 also a winner in that market.
Over 2.5 goals is being offered at 1.83 and that looks worth chancing in this one.
The Pick :
Bolton Wanderers 2-2 Leeds United
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.83
