Match Preview: Bolton Wanderers Vs Aston Villa (by Betfair’s Gareth Freeman)

April 24, 2009 by betfair.ie
Filed under: Aston Villa, Match Previews 

Earlier in the season the Villa smashed Bolton 4-2 at Villa Park.  I doubt it will be so easy this time around but a Villa win is still very much on the cards.  The Wanderers have been very poor over the last couple of weeks, they were beaten 3-1 by Fulham at the Reebok and limped to a 1-0 loss away at Fratton Park last weekend.  They did manage to beat Middlesbrough 4-1 but in truth that result flattered Bolton and I very much doubt they’ll do the same against Aston Villa on Saturday.

In goal Jussi Jaaskelainen could be one of the best keepers in the league.  He made a string of impressive saves against Pompey to ensure the score line was respectable but he is prone to the odd gaff as well.  Jussi has been in good form this season and is a hard keeper to beat, but if Villa get enough chances this won’t matter a great deal.

In defence Gary Cahill may well be one of the best central defenders in the country.  I genuinely have no idea why Villa let him go and for me Cahill is so much better than Zat Knight it’s almost criminal.  It wouldn’t surprise me if the former Villa man moved on in the near future, if not this summer perhaps the one after, and he is the rock of the Bolton defence.  The problem with the Bolton defence is Cahill’s partner, whoever that may be, Andy O’Brien has been making mistakes lately and I’m not sure Danny Shittu is cut out for the Premier League.  The Wanderers also have Sebastien Puygrenier on loan from Zenit St Petersburg but the French centre-half hasn’t made a massive impact since he arrived at the Reebok.  In Gretar Steinsson they have a quality right-back and former Villa man Jlloyd Samuel has been doing a good, if uninspiring, job at left-back.

The Bolton midfield is definitely a ‘work in progress’ for boss Gary Megson at the moment.  I don’t know what the Villa fans thought of Gavin McCann when he was at Villa Park but in his time at Bolton I’ve noticed he doesn’t know which way forward is.  Fabrice Muamba is very hit and miss, sometimes he looks amazing and other times clueless.  Matt Taylor has been in fine form all season and is deadly when delivering free-kicks and corners, Taylor will probably be Bolton’s danger man on the day.  Megson is still sweating on the fitness of Ricardo Gardner, the Jamaican has been Bolton’s bright-spark this season and about the only player who seems to be able to take people on and create things from nothing, if Gardner doesn’t play Villa will have an even greater chance of taking all three points.

No one really needs to be told about Kevin Davies, he works hard, has a better touch than most people expect and has popped up with quite a few goals this season.  Record signing Johan Elmander has come under a lot of criticism for not scoring but the big Swede is another player with a fantastic work-rate and will tire out the Villa defence.  Personally I’m not sure how much quality Elmander actually posseses but he does trouble defenders with his presence alone.

In truth this is a tie that could go either way.  Villa and Bolton have played out a few cracking games over the years but I think this will be a cagey affair.  I watched Villa against Manchester United and Everton and they were both games Villa perhaps deserved to win (especially Man U, turns out Fergie does seem to have some sort of factory producing wonder kids).  Bolton haven’t looked very good for a while now but they still seem to be picking up the odd result here and there and they’ve still got relegation to worry about (sort of) so I’m expecting a low-scoring and nervous encounter between two teams fairly low on confidence.

by Gareth Freeman, a sports writer who writes about betting for Betfair.


Comments

3 Comments on Match Preview: Bolton Wanderers Vs Aston Villa (by Betfair’s Gareth Freeman)

  1. Martin Banks on Thu, 23rd Apr 2009 18:37

    2. Matty Taylor, Gardner and Kevin Davies have really helped you this season. Without them you’d be struggling I think. And I can’t help but agree that Cahill is better than Knight. I was a little surprised we got rid of him tbh, he was showing a lot of potential for us, not the finished article and probably never amazing, but he’d be great to have for times like these when Laursen is out.

    Good preview though mate,
    Mart

    Up The Villa

  2. Lee Lindsay on Fri, 24th Apr 2009 14:32

    3. McCant has never ever been able to go forward….. all he does is run up and down the centre line with the ball….. it was the same frustration Villa had with him as Bolton have now… Other than that apart from his Skunk like pattern in his hair, he’s a joke of a player and was part of the team that took Sunderland down…

  3. Martin Banks on Fri, 24th Apr 2009 18:01

    4. I always liked McCann, but only really because he wanted so badly to be a great midfielder, moreso than he ever actually was. He tried his heart out for Villa, but he will never get as good a mark for ability as he will for effort.

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