Bolton v Man United - A preview

The first game of the season saw Bolton lose 2-0 away at Charlton. Since then Sam’s men have climbed the table with wins over Watford, Liverpool, Portsmouth Newcastle and Blackburn and a draw against Middlesbrough. This constitutes Bolton’s best ever start to a premiership season. Presently sitting 3rd also means this is a top 3 encounter. Yes, really.

Bolton owe their current good run mainly to the excellent form of Jussi Jaaskalainen, a quality keeper that will no doubt prove hard to beat. Bolton do not average that many shots on goal per game, in contrast to United. Their supply to the front men will also be weakened by the absence of Kevin Nolan, who is suspended. In contrast, United are delighting in Paul Scholes’ form. In fact I expect there to be a few match-ups that will swing the result United’s way. I expect Ronaldo to come back in to the starting X1, with Giggs possibly rested for the trip to Denmark, although the brave option would be to deploy both Ronaldo and Giggs on the wings. I expect to see the very best of Ronaldo tomorrow, he debuted against Bolton with an amazing display of trickery, craft and pace and he seems to enjoy playing against them. He should be hungry after missing out on against Liverpool. I also expect Saha’s powerful runs to open gaps for Rooney to exploit.

Last season saw United pick up all 3 points with goals in this fixture from Saha and Van Nistelrooy. In fact, United have not lost to Bolton at the Reebok in the Premiership and I don’t see anything other than an away win on Saturday.

Probable line-up:
Van der Saar: Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra: Fletcher, Carrick, Scholes, Ronaldo, Saha, Rooney

Subs from: Kuszczak, Brown, Giggs, Solskjaer, Heinze, Smith, Richardson, Silvestre, O’Shea

Injured: Park

Prediction: 0-2
Rooney, Ronaldo