After losing at Wolves last weekend, Bolton manager Gary Megson wouldn’t have been too pleased to see that his next opponents Man City had beaten the league leaders ending their run of draws. The Trotters will now be facing a City side full of confidence and belief rather than a team that was under increasing pressure due to their defensive inadequacies.

Manchester City may have rode their luck at times against Chelsea but they also performed superbly against a team most of us would have expected to beat them. The fact that they also came back from going behind is of great testament to Mark Hughes and his team. Not may sides will be able to do the same to Chelsea’s notoriously strong defence this season. Next up is a very different threat in the shape of a Bolton side low on confidence but still extremely dangerous especially from set-pieces. It’s important for City that they do not let last weekend’s win go to their heads and fail to put in the same effort against a team they are expected to beat.

On paper this should be a comfortable away trip for City but as we all know the Premier League usually throws up a few shock results. The likes of Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott will have to be at the top of their game to deal with the threat of Kevin Davies. In fact, the result may well depend on how well City deal with Bolton’s set-piece threat. After all, 77% of the Trotters goals have come via this route, the highest percentage in the Premier League. Bolton have a reputation as a tough awkward side to play against but their hard to beat aura at the Reebok has diminished of late. That’s hardly surprising as they’ve won just one of their last ten home league games. The Trotters now possess the worst home record in the Premier League.

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City, on the other hand have come through their poor run of form without losing a match. Therefore, they’ll be eagerly anticipating every game after reaching the Carling Cup semis and beating the league leaders in the same week. They are now unbeaten in their last 12 matches in all competitions and are scoring plenty of goals. That’s of no surprise with the striking talent Hughes has at his disposal although Emmanuel Adebayor doesn’t have the best of records against Bolton. The Togolese striker has surprisingly failed to score in his previous 7 league appearances against the Trotters. It’s not just Adebayor that has struggled to score past Bolton as City have failed to score in their last four trips to the Reebok as the home side has won two and drawn two.

City are likely to give Bolton a chance as Hughes’ team have kept just one clean-sheet in their last 11 league games. However, the Trotters have yet to keep a clean-sheet at all this season, so City’s star-studded forwards will certainly fancy their chances. This encounter may not be as easy for Hughes’ team as many would expect but I am still backing Man City to pick up an away win. With a £30,000 Premier 10 jackpot to play for and City buzzing after beating Chelsea, this should be the most likely result.