Bolton vs West Bromwich Albion Predictions

These two teams head into Monday nights game in the midst of very different battles, with Bolton occupying a place in the bottom three they are fighting for their survival in the second tier of English football, while West Brom are in the heart of the promotion race and will have all eyes on a top two finish in order to avoid the lottery known as the Championship Play-Offs.

Bolton Wanderers held Bristol City to a goalless draw at half time in their match at Aston Gate last weekend, and even took the lead against the run of play through Buckley just shy of the hour mark. However, goals from veteran Matty Taylor and Palmer in the space of two minutes put Bristol City in front and crushed the visitors self belief. Bristol City were the better team over the ninety minutes, having 68% of the possession, nine corners to their guests none, and fifteen shots to Bolton’s seven, so it was the right result in the end.

West Brom got off to a great start against fellow promotion hopefuls Norwich, when on-loan Everton defender Mason Holgate put in a near post cross and striker Dwight Gayle got on the end of it to make it 1-0 in the twelfth minute. The Baggies pushed forward in search of a killer second goal but it never arrived and that cost them the victory. Norwich substitute Rhodes equalised for the visitors with just seven minutes left on the clock, earning the Canaries a valuable point on the road against one of their rivals.

When these two teams met for their reverse league fixture in August Bolton pulled off a shock 2-1 win at the Hawthorns. Magennis’ eighteenth minute strike looked to have given Bolton a half time lead, only for the Baggies to equalise in front of their fans through Barnes in first half stoppage time. Bolton surrendered the possession to their hosts and played counter attacking football, and in the end that tactic worked perfectly as Wildschut won the game for the visitors in the eighty-ninth minute, despite Bolton only having 30% of the overall possession.

West Brom head into Monday nights game as the form favourites having lost just one, drawn two, and won three of their last six in league and cup. This Bolton team severely lack goals and that could be their undoing in the business end of the campaign, with Magennis leading the way on four Championship goals. Gayle has fourteen and Rodriguez has thirteen league goals for the Baggies so far this season, while Barnes has chipped in with nine goals as well.

We’re confident that West Brom will win and that over 2.5 goals will be scored in the process, and have backed the final scoreline to read 3-0. The visitors are in good form and recently beat Rotherham United 4-0 away from home, while Bolton were recently beaten 6-0 by Hull City. West Brom’s two main strikers have scored a combined twenty-seven goals in the Championship this season and should have a field day against a leaky Bolton defence.