Birmingham City vs. Bolton Wanderers – FA Cup Preview
Alex McLeish’s Birmingham City take on Owen Coyle’s Bolton Wanderers in the quarter-final of the FA Cup at St. Andrew’s on Saturday, March 12. The home side will be looking to capitalize on their Carling Cup win against Arsenal
last month and overshadow their poor performance in the Premier League this season by winning yet another trophy.
Birmingham City
Birmingham has had a struggling season this term in the Premier League and currently sit in 17th place with 31 points. The Blues are just hovering over the relegation zone and are above West Ham United just on goal difference.
Apart from the League, the club has been fabulous in cup competitions. They shocked Arsenal at Wembley and won the League Cup, coming from one-goal down and are still in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Birmingham defeated Sheffield 3-0 on Wednesday, in the fifth round of the competition with goals from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Murphy-c10562.
Bolton Wanderers
The Trotters have had a defining season under new manager Owen Coyle and sit at an impressive seventh place in the Premier League table with 40 points. Bolton are well on course to qualify for the UEFA Europa League next season
with nine matches to go for the Premier League season.
Owen Coyle's men defeated Fulham at Craven Cottage in the fifth round of the FA Cup with a first-half goal from Ivan Klasnic proving to be decisive. The Trotters have been in splendid form recently and have won four of the last
five matches played in all competitions.
Team News
Birmingham City
The Blues will start the match with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Bentley-c10435 and Jean Beausejour are tipped for wider roles in the midfield.
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton will be without star striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kevin-Davies-c20716 will start upfront for the Trotters whereas Stuart
Holden and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Zat-Knight-c37825 is out with injury.
Players to watch
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Obafemi-Martins-c28273
The Nigerian played a pivotal part in Birmingham’s Carling Cup win over Arsenal and has been instrumental since arriving on-loan from Rubin Kazan in January. The former Newcastle United forward has already scored two goals for
the Blues and will be hoping to carry on with his performances.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Johan-Elmander-c18782
The Swede has scored ten goals for Bolton this season and is the club’s top goal scorer this season. But the striker has not scored in the last five matches for his club as Daniel Sturridge and Ivan Klasnic have taken the goal
scoring responsibility. It is the perfect time for the forward to return to goal scoring form and lead his side to the last four in the competition.
Prediction
Birmingham have shown in the recent past that they cannot be written off in the cup competitions and showed some spirited performances. The home advantage would only add to the confidence of the side and they are expected to win
this tie 3-1.
Tags: