Bolton v Blackburn Rovers betting preview

Can Bolton bounce back from their 5-1 battering against Aston Villa when they welcome Blackburn to the Reebok Stadium?(credit: j.a.holland )

Dave Higgins
22 Nov 2009

Can Sam Allardyce engineer victory on his return to the Reebok?

There are not many managers who stay with the same club for over seven years, although Sam Allardyce established Bolton Wanderers as a Premier League outfit in that time. With hindsight, he might not have left for Newcastle, although there will be no sentiment when his Blackburn Rovers side roll into town on Sunday. The Lancashire club are still point-less on the road, although they are 5/2 (Sky Bet) to come away with the three points.

In fairness, their five straight away wins aren’t so bad when you consider three of them came at Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. There are signs that Rovers are getting their act together, with Jason Roberts (8/1 Blue Square) giving the manager food for thought after a second-half brace against Portsmouth a fortnight ago.

It’s likely that Franco Di Santo (8/1 Stan James) will continue in attack, although the value bet could be David Dunn, who is having a great season thus far. The midfielder is playing in an advanced position and takes the penalties, so the 10/1 (Coral) about him breaking the deadlock makes appeal.

It will be interesting to see how Bolton react to their 5-1 mauling at Villa Park two weeks ago. Probably by adopting a safety-first approach and Under 2.5 Goals looks to be the call at 10/11 (bet365), especially with Rovers needing to tighten up on the road. Wanderers are strong favourites (13/10 Victor Chandler) to double their home win tally for the season and continue their opponents’ 0% record away from home, although the draw is a far more preferable option at 12/5 (Sky Bet). The two teams cancelled each other out twice last term.

It’s been four games without a goal for Kevin Davies (6/1 Boylesports), a player who was bought by Blackburn for £7.5million eleven years ago.

Meanwhile, Bolton manager Gary Megson has called on £10 million man Johan Elmander to show more ruthlessness in front of goal. The Swede is 8/1 (Ladbrokes) to open the scoring, although his current ratio of goals to games does not inspire confidence.

We should probably expect a physical battle at the Reebok Stadium and Paddy Power go 7/2 that a red card is brandished before the final whistle.

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Tags: 2009/10 Premier League,  2009/10 Premier League Betting,  Blackburn,  Blackburn Rovers,  Bolton,  Bolton Wanderers,  David Dunn,  Football,  Football Betting,  Football News,  Gary Megson,  Jason Roberts,  Kevin Davies,  Premier League,  Premier League Betting