Bolton v Chelsea Preview

By Brian Lofrumento | 30th October 2009

Bolton v Chelsea Preview | read this item

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Chelsea faces a tricky away trip to the Reebok Stadium to take on Bolton on Saturday. The two sides just clashed this midweek in the Carling Cup with Chelsea running out 4-0 winners. Carlo Ancelotti has been delighted with his side’s start to the season, but Bolton has long been a bogey team in the Premier League for the Pensioners.

Bolton

Team News

Bolton boss Gary Megson has revealed that several of his players have suffered from the infamous swine flu, but he is putting it down as inevitable and moving on.
The match against Chelsea this weekend is just part of a difficult run of fixtures for the Trotters. Bolton is coming off of matches against Everton and Chelsea, and after this weekend’s match they have to face Aston Villa.
Andy O’Brien will miss the match along with the lengthy layoffs for Sean Davis, Joey O’Brien, and Johan Elmander.

Bolton Form

The loss to Chelsea midweek means that Bolton crashed out of the Carling Cup.
Last weekend Bolton picked up an unlikely 3-2 win over Everton, a result that boosted confidence among the Bolton ranks.
Bolton currently sits 12th in the table, and a win could propel them to 10th in the Premier League.

Key Man: Matthew Taylor. Taylor has been in sensational form this season for Bolton, even leading the club in goalscoring. Taylor always seems to come up with goals in big games, including a goal against Manchester United earlier this season.

Chelsea

Team News

Chelsea have looked extremely strong in all competitions this season as the team is among the favorites to take home the Premier League, Champions League, Carling Cup, and FA Cup.
Joe Cole has finally made a return to the Chelsea lineup and has looked strong in his appearances for the Blues.
Like Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce, Carlo Ancelotti has been feeling under the weather lately. The Italian even made a trip back to Italy to see a doctor.

Chelsea Form

Chelsea are the current Premier League leaders, having won eight of their opening ten fixtures.
In their past two matches Chelsea have scored nine goals. They beat Blackburn Rovers 5-0 before their 4-0 Carling Cup win over Bolton.
Chelsea will battle Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday before their clash with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge next Sunday.

Key Man: Didier Drogba. Drogba is the only man that can challenge Fernando Torres’ claim as the best striker in the Premier League, and Drogba is looking like a favorite for this season’s golden boot award. The Ivorian has an outstanding eight goals already in the 2009/10 season.

Prediction

Chelsea have steamrolled over most of their competition this season, but the Reebok is never an easy place to play. Considering Chelsea have struggled against Bolton in the past, I can see a surprising 2-1 win for Bolton.