Bolton Wanderers - Match Preview

History of the Watford v Bolton Wanderers fixture

Watford prepare to entertain Bolton Wanderers at Vicarage Road Stadium on Saturday afternoon, looking to continue an impressive record against the Trotters over the years.

When history against Bolton Wanderers is ever mentioned to a Watford fan, one's mind immediately turns to the never-to-be forgotten Wembley Play-off Final triumph of 1999, goals by Nick Wright and Allan Smart ensuring the Golden Boys reached the Premiership for the first time, but here we concentrate on the fixtures that have taken place at Vicarage Road over the years.

Once again, the Golden Boys have clearly been on top, winning 7 and drawing four of the 12 games played in Hertfordshire, although to be fair, on the last occasion Bolton Wanderers visited Vicarage Road they did win comfortably, goals by Jared Borgetti, Stelios Giannakopoulos and Ricardo Vaz Te securing a comfortable three goal success for Sam Allardyce's side in an FA Cup Third Round tie in January 2006.

For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here

Recent encounters between the teams:
2006/2007	Sat 09 Sep	Bolton Wanderers	1-0	Watford	PREM
2005/2006	Sat 07 Jan	Watford	0-3	Bolton Wanderers	FAC
2000/2001	Sun 03 Dec	Bolton Wanderers	2-1	Watford	CHMP
2000/2001	Tue 24 Oct	Watford	1-0	Bolton Wanderers	CHMP
1998/1999	Mon 31 May	Watford	2-0	Bolton Wanderers	D1PO
1998/1999	Sat 10 Apr	Watford	2-0	Bolton Wanderers	CHMP
1998/1999	Tue 20 Oct	Bolton Wanderers	1-2	Watford	CHMP

Recent respective form guides

Watford have managed to pick up two wins from their last six home games, against Stockport County (4-1) in an FA Cup Third Round tie, and more recently an exciting odd goal in three victory over Blackburn Rovers in the Premiership.

A goalless draw at home to Reading was achieved in December, but on the debit side three games have been lost, disappointingly to Sheffield United (0-1) at the end of November, and then against Arsenal (1-2) on Boxing Day and Liverpool (0-3) early in the New Year.

The Trotters meanwhile have been in reasonable form away from home in their last six fixtures, winning on three occasions, most recently at Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup Third Round (4-0), and prior to Christmas, a two goal Nicolas Anelka inspired victory over Manchester City followed a narrow triumph at Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa, courtesy of a Gary Speed penalty (who also netted from the spot against Watford in the reverse fixture earlier in the season).

Last Sunday our opponents gained an excellent draw against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in the FA Cup Fourth Round, a second half Kevin Nolan strike securing an upcoming replay at the Reebok Stadium.

Conversely however, Bolton Wanderers have suffered a couple of heavy defeats too. On New Year's Day they were spanked 3-0 by an ever improving Liverpool, whilst midway through January, Gareth Southgate's Middlesbrough trounced them 5-1 at the Riverside.

All this leaves Watford stuck right at the bottom of the Barclays Premiership with only 15 points from 24 matches played. Bolton Wanderers on the other hand find themselves in a respectable 5th position, courtesy of the 41 points they have accumulated from 25 games.

For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here

Current form guides:	P	W	D	L	F	A	P
Watford	6	3	0	3	7	11	9
Bolton Wanderers	6	1	3	2	7	10	6

FootyMad's prediction…

So long as Watford do not suffer an adverse reaction to their heavy midweek defeat at Manchester United, we feel Aidy Boothroyd's men can take advantage of Bolton Wanderers' indifferent form of late, and pull off a narrow one goal victory. Home Win

Sequence statistics:
Watford	5 games since last home draw. Not drawn a match in their last 6 .
Bolton Wanderers	Not won in previous 2 away matches. Drawn each of the last 2 games. No win in the 4 most recent games.