Friday evening, at 19:45, Bristol City receives Bolton Wandarers’ visit to the Ashton Gate stadium in a match of England’s 4th round. The hosts start with the first chance thanks to the shape of the moment, but also the precarious situation in which Bolton is: at a time of financial collapse, Wandarers struggles hard to avoid relegation from the second English league.
Arena will be filled for a new adventure of Bristol City, which made a beautiful figure last season in the League Cup of England. In a warm atmosphere, white and red should dominate Advesara, which comes after a failure in front of WBA (0-2), another top team in the Championship. In the case of a draw, the game will be replayed, but none of the two camps wants such an outcome that would only complicate the timing.
Bolton has lost three of his last four official matches (3 consecutive in the championship), and the only “relief” is the success with Walsall in the English Cup (round 3), score 5-2. In that match, however, black and white have met a lower echelon rival who could not keep up with the hosts. Instead, Bristol looks like an enviable form in the Championship, where he just beat Nottingham Forest in the away (1-0) after a perfect defensive performance.
Besides, Bristol has a very defensive game that helped Lee Johnson’s team get to the fight for qualification in the play-off promotion! Bristol has 11 consecutive no-win matches in all competitions and comes after 5 consecutive wins (4 of them without a goal). Nottingham, Huddersfield (1-0 in the Cup), Stoke City (2-0 in the championship) and Rotherham (1-0) give hope for glory to fans in Bristol, who have recently witnessed a victory against him … Bolton Wandarers!
The two camps went into the championship on Jan. 12, and Bristol forced himself home 2-1, coming back from 0-1. Buckley opened the score for Bolton, but Taylor (64) and Palmer (66) kept points at Bristol after a match in which the home team was clearly superior to all the statistical chapters. The ownership ratio was 70% -30% in favor of white-red, who fired 23 times at the gate.
In the Championship standings, Bristol is ranked 7th (35-29 goals) and has only two points to play-off. Bolton is on 23rd place (18-42 golaver) and has by far the weakest attack in the second English league. Bristol is unlikely to get confused by an adversary full of problems and vulnerabilities, playing in a busy atmosphere.
PREDICTION: Bristol City to win @ 1.50
