ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - BOLTON WANDERERS V SUNDERLAND

English Premier

2011-05-07 - Bolton Wanderers vs Sunderland

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Bolton Wanderers v Sunderland
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 7 May 2011 - Kickoff 3pm

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Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers season may be almost over, but do not expect Owen Coyle to start looking forward to the Summer holidays when there is a top half finish to secure. After spending the majority of the season well away from the relegation zone, Coyle will want his team to finish as high as possible with 7th still within reach.

The Trotters were knocked out of the Semi Final of the FA Cup and are 8th in the Premier League this season, a compliment to the job being done by Coyle at the club since coming in from Burnley last season. They have been particularly impressive at the Reebok Stadium where Bolton are 10-4-2 this season, scoring 33 goals and conceding 20. Only the current top 5 teams have won more home games this season.

Bolton have lost 5 of their last 7 games in all competitions after losing to Blackburn last weekend. However, they have won 5 in a row at the Reebok Stadium since losing to Chelsea, including against Arsenal last time out at home. Bolton have also kept clean sheets in 3 of those wins.

Daniel Sturridge could return to the side after missing the last 2 games. Gretar Steinsson is also due back, but Mark Davies remains sidelined. Jussi Jaaskenlainan will play in goal after missing the game last week.

Sunderland

I think Steve Bruce is a mighty relieved manager after keeping Sunderland in the Premier League in large part to a 4-2 home win over Wigan a couple of weeks ago. I am also fairly sure Bruce cannot wait for this season to end after another couple of players fell victim to the injury curse at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland are 14th in the Premier League table, but their 41 points gained are likely to keep them in the League barring a miracle set of results. Their only real aim left is to finish above local rivals Newcastle, who also have 41 points this season. Sunderland are 3-6-8 away from home, scoring just 15 goals and conceding 28. This makes Sunderland one of the lowest away scorers in the League.

Since beating Blackpool 1-2 at Bloomfield Road on the 22nd January, Sunderland have lost 9 of 11 Premier League games, earning a draw with Arsenal and beating Wigan as their other 2 results. They were comfortably beaten by Fulham, 0-3 at home, last weekend and have lost 4 of their last 5 away games. In fact, Sunderland have failed to score in their last 4 away from home.

The latest players to suffer from the injury curse at Sunderland are Michael Turner and Lee Cattermole, both likely to not play again until next season. Kieran Richardson is also out for the last 3 games, while the likes of Asamoah Gyan and Danny Welbeck being out leaves the Black Cats a little short up front.

Head to Head

Sunderland have actually won 3 of the last 4 Premier League meetings between the sides, including a 1-0 home win in December.

Bolton had won 2 in a row at home against Sunderland before failing to win any of the last 2.

Sunderland won 0-1 here last season, their only goal in the last 4 visits to this part of the North West.

Prediction

This very much has the feel of an end of season game, but I think Bolton have more motivation than Sunderland for the 3 points here.

Bolton want to finish as high up the table as possible and the return of Daniel Sturridge cannot be underestimated, with the exuberance shown by the young player rubbing off on his team mates.

Sunderland look like a team that may just have accepted they are going to finish in the bottom half and injuries have killed them. With strikers missing, it is hard to see where goals are going to come from and it is no surprise to see they have failed to score in 6 of their last 8 games.

I expect the home side will get the win here, but the odds on quotes dont really appeal to me. However, I do want to get on the home side and really liked the 3.25 offered by Ladbrokes that Bolton win to nil.

Bolton have picked up a number of clean sheets with their home wins in recent games while Sunderland are struggling to score goals. The away side were awful against Fulham last weekend and I just get the feeling Ladbrokes have undervalued the chances that Sunderland fail to score again.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

I'll back Bolton Wanderers WIN TO NIL @ 3.25 Ladbrokes (2 UNITS)

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