Bolton Wanderers v West Ham United
Looking for all the world like prime candidates for relegation, struggling Bolton play host to West Ham United this weekend. No longer looking like being dragged into the mire themselves following the renaissance of Glenn Roeder's side, the Hammers' first ever match at the Reebok Stadium will give them the opportunity to move into the top half of the table should other results go their way.
As is the way of the Premiership these days, the manager of a defeated side often likes to blame the referee. Sam Allardyce was particularly displeased with the performance of David Elleray last weekend following Bolton's 3-2 defeat to Newcastle, as the Harrow official penalised goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen for holding onto the ball for longer than the maximum six seconds.
Alan Shearer netted from the resulting free-kick, and Allardyce fumed: "Jussi's saying he's not being allowed to distribute the ball how he wanted, which was to kick it down the pitch. It appears David Elleray is saying he could throw it out but all options should be open to him, and it should have been a free-kick against Shearer."
But it wasn't, Bolton conceded, extended their run of games without a Premiership win to 12 and remained in the bottom three as a result. Their main hope will be that players such as Michael Ricketts and Kevin Nolan, who have shown they have all the capabilities required of Premiership players, will be able to get them out of trouble. However, having hit fewer successful passes and crosses around the park than any other team the entire side has got to buck up their ideas if results are to be picked up.
And of course team morale needs a boost after their shocking 4-0 FA Cup exit at the hands of Spurs in midweek.
Bolton will be expecting few favours out of the West Ham defence - the Hammers are the only team in the top flight to have yet to concede a penalty. However, only a couple of sides have cleared more shots off the line than the four West Ham have been forced to hurriedly whack away, so it's not all been plain sailing for the east London club.
Neither side has the advantage in attack - both have beaten the 'keeper with an below-par 11% of their attempts. The two teams are also hitting around the same proportion of their shots on target, but again both are below the Premiership average - those expecting a demonstration of attacking might are likely to be in for a disappointment.
But with the likes of Ricketts and Frederic Kanoute on show you never can tell - it could even be a matched packed with goals, and surreysports.co.uk are offering 50/1 on a fun-packed 3-3 draw. However, with both sides finding goals hard to come by perhaps a repeat of the 1-1 draw the last time the two clubs met in Bolton - available at 11/2 - is more likely.
Chris Green.
Match referee: D. Pugh
David Pugh officiates his eighth Premiership match of the campaign at the Reebok Stadium. It is not his first visit to Bolton this term - Paul Warhurst and Mike Whitlow were the recipients of a Pugh yellow card during the Trotters' 1-0 home defeat to Southampton in September. It will be West Ham's first match with the Wirral referee.
Referee's Name FoulsPenaltiesYellow CardsRed CardsAve
Disc pointsD. Pugh 188 0 21 0 35.86
PLAYER HEAD-TO-HEAD
click below for in-depth comparisonJaaskelainen v James
TEAM NEWS
The Hammers are still without captain Paolo di Canio who is serving his three-match suspension. However, Glenn Roeder will be encouraged by Frederic Kanoute's return. The French striker sat out Wednesday's 3-2 FA Cup defeat by Chelsea with a hamstring problem. Czech Republic defender Tomas Repke is also banned, for one match, and Australian Hayden Foxe could deputise.
Denmark international Stig Tofting passed a medical on Friday morning and should make his debut after receiving international clearance. Bruno N'Gotty (ankle), Simon Charlton (knee), Paul Warhurst (calf) and Fredi Bobic (calf) could all return after missing the FA Cup defeat by Tottenham because of injury. Mike Whitlow is ruled out after suffering concussion at White Hart Lane.
MATCH BETTING
click on links below to place a wager
Match Result
Bolton 5/4
Draw 11/5
West Ham 7/4
Correct Score
Bolton 1-0 6/1
Bolton 2-0 10/1
Bolton 2-1 15/2
Bolton 3-0 18/1
Bolton 3-1 18/1
Bolton 3-2 25/1
Bolton 4-0 50/1
Bolton 4-1 40/1
Bolton 4-2 66/1
Bolton 5-0 100/1
Bolton 5-1 100/1
Draw 0-0 8/1
Draw 1-1 11/2
Draw 2-2 14/1
Draw 3-3 50/1
West Ham 1-0 7/1
West Ham 2-0 12/1
West Ham 2-1 10/1
West Ham 3-0 28/1
West Ham 3-1 22/1
West Ham 3-2 28/1
West Ham 4-0 80/1
West Ham 4-1 80/1
West Ham 4-2 80/1
West Ham 5-0 100/1
West Ham 5-1 100/1
Double Result
Bolton/Bolton 3/1
Bolton/Draw 15/1
Bolton/West Ham 33/1
Draw/Bolton 4/1
Draw/Draw 7/2
Draw/West Ham 5/1
West Ham/Bolton 28/1
West Ham/Draw 15/1
West Ham/West Ham 7/2
First Goalscorer
M Ricketts 9/2
F Bobic 11/2
D Holdsworth 6/1
B Hansen 8/1
K Nolan 10/1
H Pedersen 10/1
R Wallace 10/1
R Gardener 16/1
G Forchevet 20/1
G Farrelly 20/1
N Southall 20/1
J Johnsen 20/1
P Warhurst 25/1
G Bergsson 33/1
B N'gotty 40/1
M Whitlow 50/1
S Charlton 50/1
A Barness 50/1
No Goalscorer 8/1
F Kanoute 11/2
J Defoe 6/1
P Kitson 7/1
R Garcia 8/1
D Hutchison 10/1
J Cole 14/1
T Sinclair 14/1
L Courtois 16/1
S Moncur 20/1
S Lomas 20/1
S Schmemel 33/1
R Soma 40/1
S Minto 40/1
V Labant 50/1
C Dailly 50/1
H Foxe 50/1
N Winterburn 50/1
For all these bets + much more go now to surreySPORTS.co.uk
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