Manchester United-Bolton Preview: English Premier League Football

Manchester United vs Bolton

Saturday 17 October 2009

Old Trafford

English Premier League Football

Kick-Off: 15:00

Manchester United

Wayne Rooney will face a race against time to play for Manchester United as he recovers from a calf injury sustained in England’s 1-0 defeat against Ukraine on Saturday.

The England forward withdrew from the England squad ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Belarus to receive treatment in Manchester and is questionable for Saturday’s Man Utd vs Bolton fixture.

All the same, Sir Alex Ferguson will fancy his chances as Manchester United have not lost to Bolton at Old Trafford since 2003.

Man United are looking to rebound from a poor performance against Sunderland in their last Premier League match. Man Utd were lucky to earn a draw as a 90th minute own goal by Anton Ferdinand, brother of Rio, salvaged a point and saved total embarrassment for Ferguson.

Rio Ferdinand was rested and Jonny Evans received the start in his place against Sunderland, though after playing 180 minutes for England this week, it is expected that Ferdinand will resume his role in the heart of the defence for United alongside Nemanja Vidic.

Ferdinand could potentially be a key figure as Man Utd have uncharacteristically conceded a large number of goals in recent weeks.

Dimitar Berbatov is coming fresh off of a hat-trick he scored for Bulgaria as they crushed Georgia 6-2.

Bolton

Bolton have been putting in their typical “ground-and-pound” performances that spectators have grown accustomed to over the past few seasons. They rarely get played off the pitch, though their victories are hardly of the dominant form.

Gary Megson’s team travel to Old Trafford for this Manchester United v Bolton fixture with their form curve pointing upward.

Bolton drew 2-2 with Tottenham in their most recent Premier League match, but may consider themselves a bit unlucky as they were ahead twice, but unable to slam the door on Harry Redknapp’s side.

Chung-Yong Lee has looked exciting for Bolton since transferring from FC Seoul.

Ivan Klasnic, who has been loaned in from Nantes, has struggled since kidney problems halted a prosperous career at Werder Bremen.

Anyone who watched Werder Bremen approximately five or six years ago knows that the player has phenomenal ability, and if he were to rediscover half of the form he had while at Werder Bremen, he would be a huge lift for Bolton’s attacking options.

Prediction

Last season's Man Utd vs Bolton fixture ended in a 2-0 United victory, and the reverse fixture also saw the Red Devils triumph, this time by a scoreline of 1-0.

Whether Wayne Rooney plays or not, Ferguson should have enough firepower at his disposal to deal with a feisty Bolton side.

Manchester United v Bolton Prediction: Man Utd 2 - Bolton 0

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Make sure you read our other weekend EPL previews too! Aston Villa v Chelsea pits two of the in-form teams against each other in what promises to be a quality match.

Meanwhile, the Arsenal v Birmingham match has the Gunners as heavy favourites, but will it be another Arsenal thrashing?

And Rafa Benitez will be in for a test when his men travel to the Stadium of Light for the Liverpool vs Sunderland fixture.