Match Preview: Bolton Wanderers v Cambridge United (Saturday, 3pm)

Bolton Wanderers host Cambridge United in Saturday’s match at the University of Bolton Stadium looking to bounce back from defeat last time out in League One.

Bolton, who sit third in the league after 34 games, fell to a 1-0 away defeat to Wigan Athletic on Tuesday.

They face a Cambridge side who also lost their last match, a 1-0 defeat to Stevenage, and who sit 17th in the table.

With 60 goals in 34 games so far this season, Bolton are the league’s joint-second-highest scorers with 1.8 goals per game. And they are conceding fewer than average, letting in 38 goals at a rate of 1.1 per game.

Cambridge, meanwhile, are below average scorers, with 0.9 goals per game, compared to a league average of 1.3. They have conceded 1.2 goals per game.

Wanderers are in mixed form in League One, with two wins and two draws from their last six games.

With a win and five losses over that period, United’s form is worse – they have taken three points from 18, compared to the home team’s eight.

In the last 10 years, Bolton and Cambridge have played each other on seven occasions. Bolton won three of them, Cambridge one, and they drew three times.

On average, Bolton scored 1.1 goals and Cambridge 0.7 in those matches.

Their last meeting was on February 20, when Bolton won 2-1 away.

With Nathan Baxter between the sticks, Bolton can rely on one of the league’s safest pair of hands. He has kept 12 clean sheets in his 28 appearances this season, and only two other ‘keepers – Portsmouth’s Will Norris and Lincoln City’s Lukas Jensen – have been able to prevent the opposition scoring on more occasions in League One.

In the visitors’ net, Jack Stevens has 10 clean sheets in 29 games. He has conceded a goal every 77 minutes, 30% more often than the 101 minutes between goals for Baxter.

Saturday’s match will be refereed by Oliver Yates, who has taken charge of 12 League One games so far this season, issuing one red card and booking 53 players. He has awarded four penalties.

The last Bolton game Yates refereed was a 2-0 away win against Fleetwood Town on December 29. His last Cambridge match was their 0-0 draw away at Derby County on September 30.

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Bolton Wanderers v Cambridge United
League One | University of Bolton Stadium
Saturday, 2 March 2024 @ 3.00pm

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