Bolton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur,
Barclays Premier League,
Saturday 31 January, 2009,
Reebok Stadium, 3pm Kick-Off.
Wanderers begin life after Kevin Nolan on Saturday afternoon when Tottenham Hotspur make the trip north to tackle the Whites.
But Spurs won't be relishing the trip to the Reebok, knowing that they haven't won a single Premier League fixture on Wanderers home patch since Bolton returned to the top-flight in 2001. Out of those eight fixtures, they have only taken two points, with last season's 1-1 draw being preceded by five consecutive defeats.
Both teams find themselves level on points ahead of the game, with Spurs one place ahead due to their superior goal difference. The highest position that Bolton could occupy come full-time is 10th and the lowest is 18th, but that is dependent on results elsewhere around the country.
Harry Redknapp has boosted his squad significantly during the January transfer window by recruiting Carlo Cudicini from Chelsea, Wilson Palacios from Wigan Athletic and Pascal Chimbonda from Sunderland, a player that they only sold to the Black Cats in the summer. Another former player to return to White Hart Lane was Jermain Defoe, who cost the club £15m from Portsmouth.
The referee for the game is Phil Dowd, who will be taking control of his third Bolton fixture of the season. The previous two have finished in narrow 1-0 defeats to Everton and Wigan respectively. So far this season, Dowd has flashed 96 yellow cards and four reds in his 29 matches.
Team News
Gary Megson will be forced to make at least one change from the midweek draw at Blackburn following the sale of Kevin Nolan to Newcastle United. Gavin McCann is still is missing with a broken toe, as is Johan Elmander who has yet to recover from a hamstring problem.
Wilson Palacios could make his debut for Spurs while Carlo Cudicini is set to keep his place in goal for a second consecutive game. Pascal Chimbonda is expected to make his first appearance since rejoining but Jermaine Jenas is unlikely to feature.
Opposition Key Player - Roman Pavlyuchenko
Tottenham signed the Russian striker from Spartak Moscow during the summer on a five-year-deal for the fee of £14m. He attracted the attention of some of the major forces in European football after he netted twice against England in a qualifying fixture for Euro 2008 and then finished his country's top goalscorer in the outright competition with three goals.
The 27-year-old started his career at Dynamo Stavropol before moving to Rotor Volograd and then to Spartak Moscow, where he fortified his reputation of a prolific marksman with 77 goals in 147 appearances.
So far this season he has netted 12 goals for Spurs, including two in his last three outings against Burnley and Manchester United.
Opposition Manager - Harry Redknapp
Tottenham appointed the former Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp as their new manager after sacking Juande Ramos. £5m was enough to prize the 61-year-old away from Fratton Park and he was installed in time to see his new team beat Wanderers 2-0 in the first meeting between the two teams this season on October 26 of last year.
At the time of his appointment, Spurs were four points adrift at the foot of the Barclays Premier League table after taking just two points from their opening eight matches.
Redknapp spent most of his playing career with West Ham and Bournemouth and went on to manage both clubs before taking charge of Portsmouth in 2002. He guided the club to the First Division title within 14 months but he left for Pompey's bitter south coast rivals Southampton in 2004. However his spell at St Mary's was very brief and he returned to Fratton Park in December 2005.
Redknapp steered Portsmouth to a best-ever Premier League finish of ninth in 2006/07 and he then better that achievement by winning the FA Cup against Cardiff last season.
Despite this success, he was unable to refuse a "great opportunity" when Tottenham came calling for his services.
Betting
To get all the best odds for the game, visit our official betting partner Bet2Go.
Wanderers are best priced at 9/5 to take all three points with a draw available at 12/5. For the pessimists out there who think Spurs will win the match, they can find odds of 13/8.
Mark Davies is 13/2 to score on his home debut, whilst a draw at half-time and Bolton win at full-time is available at 11/2.
A 3-0 Wanderers victory is 33/1 with a 2-2 draw priced at 16/1.
Click here for more information and hundreds more of superb odds.
Listen Live
If you can't make it to the Reebok Stadium on Saturday afternoon, you can listen to live uninterrupted commentary on Wanderers World with the club's new official commentator Phil Gittins. The broadcast starts at 2.30pm.
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