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Aston Villa to Take Advantage of Struggling Bolton

On Friday night in the Championship, Aston Villa take on Bolton in a game that both teams would love to take three points from. Neither are in the position they want to be right now, Aston Villa are in 17th while Bolton are two places below them in 19th.

A win for Villa would put them into 13th position before the games on Saturday, and add a little pressure to those who they have leap frogged over, while Bolton know a win for them would take them above Villa and a couple more teams. While Bolton are expected to be down near the relegation zone and fighting for survival, Aston Villa are certainly not supposed to be down there. They fell at the final hurdle in an attempt at promotion last season, and the hangover from that playoff defeat appears to still be troubling the team. Bolton survived on the final day of last season, and they would love to do it early than that this season, although they look sure to be invovled in the scrap at the bottom based on the form we have seen from them recently.

We may only be in November, but this game gives the feel of a very important one to both teams. Villa have a reason to bounce back, with new manager Dean Smith on board and this is their first realistic chance of winning a game since he won his first game in charge against Swansea a couple of weeks ago. A win here could be just what they need to get a run going, and if they want to challenge in the top half of the table then they need to get a run going soon.

Bolton simply need to stop the rot, they are really struggling right now, and finding a win is going to be more difficult the longer that this run drags on. They won games early in the season, but have taken a big tumble down the league in recent weeks, something they need to stop.

Can Dean Smith Turn Aston Villa Around?

Dean Smith has had three games in charge of Aston Villa, and recorded one win and two defeats. Whether he is a better manager than the departing Steve Bruce doesn’t really matter at the moment, Villa needed a shake up more than anything else. They are still struggling with the disappointment of losing at Wembley last season, and a clean slate under Smith could be just what they need right now, regardless of how good or bad a manager he actually is.

As a lifelong Villa fan himself, Smith will be familiar with the pain that Villa fans are feeling right now, and he will be as desperate to turn this around as anyone else is. He has knowledge of the area and how people feel, and he needs to bring the club back up to the standards that are required by those people. His time at Brentford was a largely positive one, but this is a step into the limelight, and under more pressure, he needs to prove that he can handle that, and still do a good job.

I don’t think Smith has done anything wrong since joining the club, the game they were expected to win they did, while the two tough away trips both resulted in defeats. Anyone traveling away to Norwich and QPR with the way they are playing right now is going to struggle, let alone a team like Villa who are devoid of confidence and stuck in a rut. We saw glimpses of promise from Aston Villa in those two games, and more promise in their victory over Swansea, which was Smith’s first game in charge of the team. The talent is there, both Smith and the fans who watch know that, but what he has to do is find the right key to unlock that talent, and that may take a few weeks on the training ground.

The big challenge for Smith over the next few weeks is to work out which squad members are the key players and get them playing. He knows that January is not too far away, and he may be able to freshen the squad up with a couple of additions when we get there. For now he has to work with what he has got, which should be good enough to pick up a few points along the way. There is every chance that Dean Smith can turn this around, but he needs to sort out the club mentally, and get the players on board and playing to their full potential before they can go anywhere. This is a talented squad, but one that is struggling to find their feet and place in the division due to a huge lack of confidence.

Aston Villa vs Bolton Betting Tips

Bolton head to Villa Park on Friday night without a win from their last five games, and four of those have resulted in defeats. The only game they drew was a 1-1 draw against fellow strugglers Rotherham. Recently they have been beaten by Nottingham Forest and last week it was struggling Hull City that went to the Macron and took away three points.

Aston Villa may have lost two of their three games since Dean Smith took over, but those were extremely tough away trips that most in the league would struggle with. The game they did win was a 1-0 victory over Swansea, they played pretty well, but looked a team lacking in confidence which is no surprise. It is up to Dean Smith to build that back up and get the players onside and playing some good football. Being a fan, Smith knows the expectations are high at Villa and this won’t be an easy task for him, but he has the club at heart and that will certainly be of assistance to him.

With Bolton struggling so much in recent games, I am backing Villa to record a win here, and not only that but I am backing them on the -1 handicap line for some value. This is a very poor Bolton team, who are in freefall and heading towards the relegation zone. Villa are much better than we have seen from them on their day, and if Dean Smith can get just a little bit of improvement out of them ahead of this game, I think they will go on to win it comfortably.

I am backing Aston Villa -1 to record a comfortable victory over Bolton, who are struggling badly and look destined to be invovled in another relegation scrap this season.