Rochdale vs Bolton Predictions

• Rochdale are League 1’s lowest home goal-scorers this season.
• Bolton have scored the fewest goals away from home in League 1 this season.
• Rochdale have scored more than once in just two of their 11 home matches this season

Dale buoyed by cup result

Rochdale aren’t enjoying a particularly fruitful campaign. Thanks mainly to the disastrous efforts of a few teams below them, Brian Barry-Murphy’s men find themselves sat four points above the dreaded drop-zone, which is the silver lining.

Overall, a lack of goals has blighted Rochdale this season. By utilising some very promising young players, mixed with with some very experienced pros, Dale have a decent side, while they play some attractive football, but they’ve found it tough to out-score teams, especially at home, which isn’t surprising given that they’ve notched a total of just ten goals at Spotland.

However, they recently notched twice at home against a strong Fleetwood side, while they’ll be buoyed by their 1-1 FA Cup draw against Premier League Newcastle at this venue last weekend.

Bolton not easy to dispatch

A quick glance at the league table shows that Bolton are floundering. They’re on just seven points and are 18 points from safety. On this basis, they’re a down and outs, no-hopers, a lost cause. However, it’s always important to remember that they started the season with a points deduction and had virtually no senior playing staff until the end of September.

Under normal circumstances, it’s fair to say that this team would be in a much better position. Even if they’d not had a proper squad for the first six weeks of so, based on what they’ve achieved since Keith Hill took over, Bolton would be less than two wins away from safety were in not for a 12-point deduction, and had Hill and his team be in from the word go, you could argue that the Trotters would be outside of the bottom three by a slight margin.

In other words, Bolton are no mugs, and should not be judged on their league position. The Trotters have shown that they’re tough to beat in recent times, by avoiding defeat in seven of their last ten league games. They’ve also not lost by more than a single goal since November and have recently drawn against useful sides such as Sunderland and Shrewsbury.

Low-scoring affair on the way?

The betting ahead of this game suggest that the chances of both teams finding the net are somewhat great. However, it’s not entirely difficult to take the opposing view. Therefore, ‘Both Teams to Score – NO’ stands out as a viable option. For starters, both teams have found the net in just 22% of Bolton’s travelling matches this term. Even since they got it together under the excellent Keith Hill, the Trotters have both scored and conceded in only two out of six away games in the league. They’ve also failed to score in three of their last five on the road.

On to the hosts. Rochdale have failed to find the net in two of their last three at home, while both teams have found the net in just three of their last eight at Spotland. The fact that both teams also rank inside the bottom seven in terms of touches in the opposition box also adds fuels to the selection. It is however worth noting that Dale have done quite a bit better that their visitors in that respect, so a narrow, low-scoring win for the hosts, who’ve scored exactly once four times at home this season. Bolton, who’re averaging a measly 2.11 shots on target for away from home, have conceded exactly once in two of their last five on the road.