Bolton Wanderers vs Fleetwood Town - match preview

 Fleetwood Town turnaround or Bolton Wanderers win?

Bolton Wanderers have won both of their opening league games, beating Lincoln City 3-0 at home and Cheltenham Town 3-0 away from home. However, Fleetwood drew their opening game 1-1 with Carlisle and lost their last fixture 2-0 to Cambridge United at home. All signs point towards a Bolton win, but will it be that straightforward? Bolton won both fixtures last season, winning 2-1 away from home and 2-0 at home, Evatt will be looking to make it three in a row against Scott Brown's Fleetwood. 

Bolton team news 

The injury situation remains the same for Bolton, this game will likely come too soon for Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Eoin Toal, who both suffered injuries in pre season but could be back very soon. Unfortunately for George Johnston, it is unlikley he will return to the side at all this season but we may get an update on his injury situation on The Fanzone Podcast on the 6th of September. 

With a quick turnaround since the last game, including having to travel back from Cheltenham, Evatt may make some changes to ensure everybody is at full fitness. However, the starting eleven that have started both league games, have performed excellently in both games so far and it would be very harsh to drop any of them. The back 5 haven't conceded any goals, despite the two make-shift centre halfs in Gethin Jones and Jack Iredale. 

The two wing backs of Dacres-Cogley and Randell Williams have impressed a lot, being very creative and both have come close to scoring, despite this Zach Ashworth also played well when he got his opportunity in the cup, even scoring. With speculation over George Thomason's future, he is unlikely to start or even be involved in this game to reduce the chance of him becoming injured. Although, Paris Maghoma has seriously impressed when he has been given a chance - coming off the bench after each game and starting the league game, he is certainly an exciting prospect. Carlos Mendes Gomes will also be looking for his first league start since joining the club for £300k from Luton Town, of course last season he was on loan at Fleetwood Town. 

Dion Charles and Victor Adeboyejo are slowly forming a very good partnership up front and it would be very interesting to drop either. The most likely man to come in to replace one of them would be new, permanent signing Dan Nlundulu, however I do expect both Charles and Adeboyejo to keep their places but they could get subbed off earlier to keep them fresh for Wigan Athletic. 

I would only make one change to the starting line-up, that would be Paris Maghoma coming in for Aaron Morley. Morley hasn't played badly but with Thomason expected to leave, it would be good to see how Maghoma can perform in the starting first team.

Fleetwood Town team news and tactics

Fleetwood Town currently have a fully fit squad to choose from and do not have any known injuries to the first team squad. They have brought in 6 new transfers in this summer, 4 being permanent transfers and 2 being loan deals. Most notably, Ryan Broom from Cheltenham Town and Danny Mayor from Plymouth Argyle, both were key players at their respective clubs last season so after settling in they should be crucial players for Fleetwood.

Fleetwood are a team that like to dominate the ball when they can and they have had more possession than the other team in all of their three games this season. However, it is unlikely that they will have the majority of possession against Bolton, due to being away from home and Ian Evatt's philosophy. The problem with Fleetwood Town this season has been their finishing ability, in their three games this season they have created a total of 7 big chances and have only scored one. It is important to note that they have only played against 2 bottom half teams and Carlisle, who were promoted. Against Bolton they may not create as many big chances and will need to be a lot more clinical. 

The game vs Cambridge United also highlighted two big weaknesses that Bolton can definitely exploit. The first is how they deal with high pressure, Cambridge won the ball back on multiple occassions when Fleetwood were playing out from the back, using the number 6 (Scott Robertson) as their pressing trigger. They also won the ball in transition a lot, this means when they were fighting for the ball or Fleetwood had just regained it, Cambridge would swarm a player and win it back easily. Another of their weaknesses is defending from set pieces, especially corners. The Wanderers have scored a set piece goal in every game this season, with both Iredale and Adeboyejo scoring from a corner in the first game, Ashworth scoring a free kick and an own goal aganinst Cheltenham. They often lose who they are marking and big men can become free in the box.

My prediction for this game is a 2-0 win for Bolton, I think the first goal will come from winning the ball from a high press and Dempsey will assist Dion Charles. The second goal will come from a corner and Randell Williams will swing the ball in for Ricardo Santos to head home.