Arsenal comes into this match on the back of a comeback victory over Aston Villa in the FA Cup. Bolton has won three games on the trot in all competitions.
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain’s substitution caused a huge uproar amongst Arsenal fans as Arsenal went down, 1-2, to Manchester United last week. One can only imagine the anger amongst the fans as Arsenal conceded two goals to Aston Villa prior to half-time in the FA Cup.
The players and Arsene Wenger knew that they had to come back, at-least for the fans and level the tie. They struck three times in the second half via a pair of Robin Van Persie penalties and a Theo Walcott goal to win the game and qualify for the next round.
Two out of three of Bolton’s wins have come in the FA Cup. A 2-0 win over Macclesfield Town isn’t much of an achievement. However, their most recent victory came over Swansea City, Arsenal’s conquerors in the league, 2-1 in the FA Cup. The third of the three victories came against none other than Liverpool in the Premier League (3-1).
They climbed out of the relegation zone due to that victory and now sit in seventeenth. Arsenal sits in fifth and must win to stay in touch with the top four. Wenger recently said that he would rather finish in the top four in the league rather than win the FA Cup.
The team Wenger fields will be much stronger than the team he fielded against United last week. Mikel Arteta featured for around twenty minutes in the FA Cup. Thomas Vermaelen and Francis Coquelin played from the start till the end. Thierry Henry and Bacary Sagna also came on for the final minutes.
And, just to let you know, Wenger waited until the 89th minute to substitute Chamberlain this time around.
So who do you think will win? If Arsenal fields a strong team, expect them to narrowly take this one.
Prediction: Bolton 1-2 Arsenal
The players and Arsene Wenger knew that they had to come back, at-least for the fans and level the tie. They struck three times in the second half via a pair of Robin Van Persie penalties and a Theo Walcott goal to win the game and qualify for the next round.
Two out of three of Bolton’s wins have come in the FA Cup. A 2-0 win over Macclesfield Town isn’t much of an achievement. However, their most recent victory came over Swansea City, Arsenal’s conquerors in the league, 2-1 in the FA Cup. The third of the three victories came against none other than Liverpool in the Premier League (3-1).
They climbed out of the relegation zone due to that victory and now sit in seventeenth. Arsenal sits in fifth and must win to stay in touch with the top four. Wenger recently said that he would rather finish in the top four in the league rather than win the FA Cup.
The team Wenger fields will be much stronger than the team he fielded against United last week. Mikel Arteta featured for around twenty minutes in the FA Cup. Thomas Vermaelen and Francis Coquelin played from the start till the end. Thierry Henry and Bacary Sagna also came on for the final minutes.
And, just to let you know, Wenger waited until the 89th minute to substitute Chamberlain this time around.
So who do you think will win? If Arsenal fields a strong team, expect them to narrowly take this one.
Prediction: Bolton 1-2 Arsenal
