England - Premier League: Man. City vs Bolton Manchester City suffered a big blow to their top 4 chances after losing at KC Stadium and they will try to quickly return to winning ways as they prepare to host Bolton. The Trotters couldn’t beat Fulham at home last weekend despite being the better team and they thus remained just one point clear of the relegation zone.
City need this win
Roberto Mancini was clearly angry with how his team played against Hull and no one can blame him as the Citizens were largely outplayed by the relegation strugglers. It looked as though the Tigers wanted the win more and the Italian boss is not prepared to tolerate the lack of ambition. He looks set to make changes to the starting line-up that will probably shake up the team but the hosts still face a difficult task against good Bolton side. The Citizens will have problems breaking Bolton’s packed defence and we see a good value in betting on under 1.5 goals in the first half at 1.52 offered by Expekt.
Adam Johnson and Patrick Vieira look set to start after the good impression they left in the Hull game, with Steven Ireland and Craig Bellamy likely to be dropped. Youngster Dedrick Boyata could make way for Nedum Onuoha, but Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany, Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott and Michael Johnson remain sidelined. The hosts will be very motivated to return to winning ways and remain in contention for the top 4 place, and they are expected to attack the opponents from the very start. Seeing that City no less than 14 goals in the last 5 home games, our advice is to back the hosts to score over 1.5 goals at 1.53 offered by Boylesports.
Bolton should have beaten Fulham
After showing a great deal of progress under Owen Coyle, we expected the Trotters to beat Fulham last weekend but they could only pick up one point despite being the better team and having a clear goal disallowed. The players will, nonetheless, be encouraged by the performance in their last match and they will now be looking to pick up at least one point from Eastlands. The Trotters are unlikely to keep a clean sheet as City are very convincing at home but they will be very dangerous on the break, thus you should seriously consider backing both teams to score at 1.91 offered by William Hill.
Owen Coyle faces a real selection headache as defenders Gary Cahill, Andy O’Brien and Gretar Steinsson are sidelined with injuries, which means either Danny Shittu or Chris Basham will start alongside Zat Knight in the heart of defence. Jack Wilshire has yet to make his debut for Bolton after arriving on loan from Arsenal, while Ivan Klasnic, Sean Davis and Joey O’ Brien are still on injury list.
Betting verdict
Manchester City players will be looking to show a response after the poor performance against Hull and their free-scoring attack should be able to continue the good scoring run against the weakened Bolton side. The visitors are very physical side and they will be a danger from set-pieces and counterattacks, thus we see over 2.5 goals as the best choice here.
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