Burton vs Bolton Wanderers - match preview

 How will Bolton respond?

At the Pirelli stadium on Saturday the 26th of August, Bolton Wanderers will take on Burton Albion and will look to respond to their embarrassing 4-0 defeat at home to Wigan. Of course, Dion Charles missed that game and will be returning for this game. Burton have only 1 point out of their opening game.

Bolton team news 

As said before, Dion Charles will be returning to the squad for this fixture, likely to the starting line-up, his partnership with Victor Adeboyejo has been incredibly impressive so far this season and will be key in the outcoming of this fixture. Nlundulu will most likely come out of the team for Charles, however Jon Dadi Bodvarsson could come into the team after returning from injury. All the strikers have a point to prove, especially Adeboyejo, as he is now competing for a starting spot with, fan favourite, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson. 

There were very few acceptable performances in the Wigan game but Mendes Gomes did impress when he came and Kyle Dempsey may have been the only player who actually cared about the final result. I believe both should start in midfield, alongside Josh Sheehan - Morley was very poor and Maghoma plays better next to Sheehan, rather than instead of. George Thomason could come into the starting team because he is the only midfielder who does possess grit and aggression, however these attributes shouldn't be as necessary against a side like Burton.

The defence will likely remain very simialr, despite the horrendous performance last week. Captain, Ricardo Santos, almost has no competition and the situation is very simialr for Dacres Cogley; if anymore recruitment is to be done, it should be in these areas and holding midfield. Will Forrester could be given his first league start, over Gethin Jones, and I would start him but I think Evatt will choose to keep Jones, Santos and Iredale in the back 3. Zachary Ashworth has been impressive when given the opportunity so he could be favoured to Randell Williams in this game, however it is doubtful. Also, Baxter will almost certainly keep his place in between the sticks. Centre back, Eoin Toal, may return to the bench but it will be too early to come into the starting eleven.  

Burton team news and tactics

As for Burton, they have brought in 12 players in the summer transfer window, including 2 from the championship. Despite this, they have been incredibly poor this season and have only picked up 1 point from their opening games. In the game against Derby, they had 59% of the ball and had 15 shots but conceded 3 and scored 0; they have only scored 1 goal this season, indicating that finishing is a massive problem. From the 15 shots against Derby, only 2 were on target. From the statistics, they appear to be very poor at heading and can create good chances (or at least chances in good areas) but struggle to convert them. The only goal that they have scored was in the 97th minute to make it 2-1 from 4 yards out, this should be the perfect team for Bolton to respond to.

After watching some of their games, they have a lot of weaknesses that need to be worked on. The first big one is their pressing structure, it seems unorganised and erratic: this can work but, more often than not, it doesn't and can be played through and leave the defence vulnerable. The second links to this and it is the pace of their defensive line, this isn't always an issue but Burton play a high line and their central defenders aren't quick enough to beat the attackers to a long ball. The qualities of Sheehan, Dempsey and Mendes Gomes could all prove useful in this game to outplay Burton. In addition, their centre backs can be caught on the ball when looking to play out and a good press can lead to many chances from this area. Charles is a very good presser and if he plays well, he should score at least one in this game, Blackpool also scored a goal from this.

My score prediction is a 2-0 Bolton win, it won't be as impressive as the first few games but a comfortable win will still be a very good result. I think Adeboyejo will score in the first half from a set piece goal in the 37th minute to make it 1-0 to Bolton. I do believe that Charles will also score and that will come in the 58th minute from a good press and he will slot it around the goalkeeper. 

Comment your score prediction below.