Bolton Wanderers host Burton Albion in Monday night's televised Sky Bet League One encounter. Michael Beardmore has best bets and a preview.
It’s fair to say the paths taken by Bolton Wanderers and Burton Albion to their current positions in Sky Bet League One are somewhat divergent.
When Bolton were promoted to the Premier League in 2001, for a third time in seven seasons, Burton were finishing as runners-up in the non-league Southern Premier.
And when Wanderers were reaching the last 16 of the UEFA Cup in 2008, with Nicolas Anelka leading their line, Burton were still a National League – or Conference, as it was then known – club.
Kick-off time: 20:00 BST, Monday
TV channel: Sky Sports Football
In recent times, though, Bolton have been looking up at Burton – a position they, with all due respect, would never have imagined a decade ago – and the Brewers are two points above them as things stand.
It’s early days, still, of course, and with each side having made relatively similar starts, the outright outcome between a potent but leaky Bolton outfit and a well-drilled Burton team is best avoided.
The value here, without doubt, is in the goalscorer market.
It’s a shock to see attacking midfielder Antoni Sarcevic at 7/1 to score anytime with Unibet.
The 29-year-old number 10 netted the winner against Lincoln last month and has scored 45 goals in 285 league games for clubs such as Bolton, Fleetwood and Plymouth, mostly at League One level.
That’s a ratio of around one goal every six games, a ratio that has improved in his time at Bolton, so 7/1 on SARCEVIC TO SCORE ANYTIME looks huge – as evidenced by the fact he’s 3s elsewhere.
None of this is to discount Burton by the way.
I expect them to give as good as they get here and I like the 1-1 HALF-TIME SCORE at 15/2 with Sporting Index – a scoreline that has landed in two of Bolton’s five games and one of Burton’s so far.
In a game involving a Bolton side that are not afraid to push forward and a Burton outfit fully capable of nicking a goal, it’s definitely worth a small play.
Bolton v Burton best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Antoni Sarcevic to score anytime at 7/1 (Unibet)
- 0.5pt Half-time score 1-1 at 15/2 (Sporting Index)
Score prediction: Bolton 2-1 Burton (Sky Bet odds: 15/2)
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