Bolton Wanderers vs Derby County - match preview

 Will Bolton be Warned that their poor form can't continue?

Off the back of a disappointing defeat to Championship, Middlesborough and dropping points to winless Burton, can Bolton end their poor run of form at the Toughsheet, against Paul Warne's Derby County. 

Bolton team news and tactics

The injury situation isn't a great one for the Wanderers, no update has been provided on George Johnston - meaning that the centre half will likely miss the majority of the season. Fellow centre back, and captain, Ricardo Santos is also likely to miss this game; he picked up an ankle injury last weekend, against Burton Albion, it is unknown how long he will be out for but Evatt's words were "We don't know" and (when referring to the nature of the injury) he said "Isn't ideal". However, positively Eoin Toal has returned from his injury and he started on Tuesday night, against Middlesborough, and showed he is ready to be starting games. Jon Dadi Bodvarsson has also completed his comeback and will now be able to fight for a first team place, with Victor Adeboyejo.

Bolton will stick with their 3-5-2/3-4-2-1 formation for this game, without an option to change to a back 4 if they wanted to, however Evatt is known for playing a back 3. Nathan Baxter should return between the sticks, he has played in every league game and came on for backup, and cup goalkeeper, Joel Coleman against Middlesborough. Eoin Toal will keep his place from the cup game and replace Ricardo Santos in the middle of the back 3, however who will partner him is unclear. Will Forrester impressed many in his cameo against Burton but is there actually a place for him to come into the starting eleven? Jack Iredale seems to have nailed down the left of the 3, being the only left footed option and having played well in most games so far; Gethin Jones has been questioned this season, but he is the vice captain and in Santos' absence, will Evatt want to take him out of the team?

Josh Dacres Cogley, who came in from Tranmere in the summer, will almost definitely keep his place on the right hand side - with the only other option being Gethin Jones. Randell Williams should also start this fixture, despite Zachary Ashworth having impressed on every opportunity he has had. The centre of midfield is a very interesting situation, with some poor performances as of late. However, I believe that Sheehan has to start because he is so essential to build-up and attacking play, next to him I would actually play George Thomason. Thomason is the only physical, ball-winner in the team and his breaking up of play, could be crucial in this game; Evatt will probably pick Aaron Morley, as he has played with Sheehan the most this season. Kyle Dempsey may be the first name on the team sheet, he has been one of the best players this season for Bolton and his creativity will be a key part in this game. 

The two up front for Bolton will probably be Dion Charles and Victor Adeboyejo, they have been the first choice pair when they have both been available. This duo up top has led to an expected goals of 7.53, compared to Derby's 4.89. However, both teams have scored 6 open play goals and the finishing of Bolton has been questionable at times. This has led to a lot of fans calling for Jon Dadi Bodvarsson to return to the starting eleven. 

Derby County team news and tactics

To find out more about Derby's tactics, you should read this tweet (https://twitter.com/WanderingRed7/status/1696242004940689770?s=20), it gives a detailed analysis of how Derby play.

On the injury front, Louie Sibley has picked up another injury in training (groin) and is facing approximately 3-4 weeks on the sidelines, a big blow for the Rams. However, apart from that, Derby seem to be injury free and have a very strong squad to pick from. At the time of writing, Cashin is still at the club but he has been strongly linked to Brighton and Hove Albion, he has been very important for Derby and if he doesn't play, Bolton have a big advantage.A lot of players have come in this summer, most notably Martyn Waghorn and Conor Washington. They have been the starting strikers for the last two league games and have been very impressive for Derby - Waghorn will be key in the outcome this game, he is the only player to score more than 1 for Derby (in the league) this season and has scored 5 goals. Washington has also been important for Derby, he has scored 1 and got 1 assist. Derby also signed Curtis Nelson from Derby County, he has played on the right side of their back 3 but he has a lot of responsibility because the right wing back (Mendez Laing) has played as more of a winger. Nelson has won 1.6 tackles per game and has made 1 tackle per game - his battle with Dion Charles and Randell Williams will be very interesting.

I won't write as much for Derby because of my recent team review on them, the tweet is very in-depth and can help Bolton fans understand their strengths and weaknesses.

My prediction is a 2-1 Bolton win, this will be a very close game (if both teams are at their best) and I think the home advantage will play a part in the outcome of the game. I think Derby will score first, in the 37th minute and Cashin (if he is still there) will head home. In the 47th minute (first half) Charles will grab an equaliser from a good Bolton play, and Bodvarsson will come on and score in the 79th minute and score from a Dacres Cogley cross to put Bolton ahead.