Bodvarsson starts: The predicted Bolton Wanderers XI to face Bristol Rovers on Friday night | OneFootball

Bodvarsson starts: The predicted Bolton Wanderers XI to face Bristol Rovers on Friday night | OneFootball

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·1 December 2022

Bodvarsson starts: The predicted Bolton Wanderers XI to face Bristol Rovers on Friday night

Article image:Bodvarsson starts: The predicted Bolton Wanderers XI to face Bristol Rovers on Friday night

Bolton Wanderers will be aiming to back up their recent league victory over Fleetwood Town by securing a positive result in their showdown with Bristol Rovers tomorrow.

Wanderers produced a late comeback to defeat the Cod Army as goals from Conor Bradley and Dapo Afolayan sealed all three points.


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Currently fifth in the third-tier, Bolton will be hoping to stay in contention for a play-off place in the coming months by delivering the goods on a consistent basis at this level.

Having witnessed his side’s display against Fleetwood last month, it will be interesting to see whether Wanderers boss Ian Evatt opts to make any significant alterations to his team on Friday.

Here, we have decided to take a look at how Bolton could line up against Bristol Rovers…

Article image:Bodvarsson starts: The predicted Bolton Wanderers XI to face Bristol Rovers on Friday night

Having deployed the 3-4-1-2 formation against Fleetwood, Evatt is likely to stick with this system tomorrow.

Goalkeeper James Trafford is expected to make his 19th league appearance of the season in this fixture and will be determined to claim a clean-sheet.

Gethin Jones, Ricardo Santos and George Johnston will be tasked with providing some defensive cover for Trafford in their centre-back roles.

Bradley and Jack Iredale meanwhile are likely to feature in the wing-back positions in this particular setup.

Aaron Morley will be accompanied in the heart of midfield by George Thomason who has featured on 13 occasions in the third-tier during the current campaign.

Afolayan will start in a more advanced central role and will unquestionably be brimming with confidence after netting the winner against Fleetwood.

Whereas Dion Charles is likely to retain his place in the side from the club’s last league fixture, Elias Kachunga may make way for Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.

Kachunga recorded an underwhelming WhoScored match rating of 6.18 against Fleetwood and has yet to score in the third-tier this season.

Bodvarsson netted his sixth goal of the term in the EFL Trophy last month and will be keen to stake a claim for a regular starting role after recently being primarily deployed as a substitute.

By delivering an encouraging display against Bristol Rovers, the Iceland international could potentially help his side secure a victory in front of their own supporters.

Quiz: What club did Bolton Wanderers sign these 23 foreign players from?

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