Bolton Wanderers v Wycombe Wanderers: Prediction, Tips and Odds

The battle of the Wanderers at the Toughsheet Community Stadium on Friday is a key game in the races for the second automatic promotion position and the play-off places in League One.

Visiting Wycombe are one point behind second-placed Wrexham with just four games to play, while Bolton have fallen out of the play-off spots and are in eighth place but just three points behind sixth-placed Reading.

Wycombe have been in the top three since the 10th game of the season, topping the table in the autumn before understandably experiencing some disruption and a dip in form when former manager Matt Bloomfield left to join Championship strugglers Luton Town in January.

His replacement, Mike Dodds, has kept the Chairboys in the promotion hunt, but they face a tough finish to the season with more play-off contenders in Charlton Athletic, Leyton Orient and Stockport County still to play.

The Trotters have had a disappointing year for a club of their stature, never climbing higher than the fringes of the play-off race after finishing fifth and third in the previous two seasons.

They still have hope of sneaking into the play-offs again and, with Lincoln City (12th), Peterborough United (16th) and Stevenage (14th) being their final three opponents, this is likely to be the final match for Bolton in which their opponents have anything tangible to play for.

The first match between the teams this season was a goalless encounter in December and this could be another close and low-scoring contest.

Bolton Wanderers v Wycombe Wanderers betting tips and predictions

Wycombe to win - 7/4

Wycombe have kept the pressure on second-placed Wrexham in the League One promotion race with 1-0 wins at Huddersfield Town and at home to Stevenage in their last two matches and should have the quality to edge past Bolton too, but it's unlikely to be a comfortable afternoon.

The Chairboys aren't scoring enough goals to make things easy for themselves and their last three wins have all come in one-goal matches, while their last four victories have all been by one-goal margins.

They needed a 90th-minute goal from Caleb Taylor to avoid dropping points against Stevenage, but their defensive solidity gives them an excellent chance of achieving a similar result when they head to Bolton.

It has taken a good team to beat Wycombe in recent weeks, with their last three losses being 1-0 defeats to champions Birmingham City, second-placed Wrexham and sixth-placed Reading, and Bolton don't look in the kind of form to deny them.

The Trotters have lost five of their last seven league games including 1-0 home defeats by Stockport and Rotherham United and they turned in their worst performance for some time when beaten 4-1 at Barnsley last Saturday.

Bolton have won 11 of their 21 home league games this season, but they've lost two of their last three in front of their own fans and only Birmingham can match Wycombe's tally of 11 away wins this season.

Under 2.5 goals - 3/4

Neither team found the net in the first meeting between these teams this season and another low-scoring clash can be anticipated on Friday.

Only four goals have been scored in total in Wycombe's last five matches and 14 of their last 15 games have finished with under 2.5 goals.

The exception was an entertaining 3-2 win at Rotherham that was goalless for the first 65 minutes and still just 1-1 heading into added time.

Bolton also had a series of low-scoring encounters before their trouncing at Oakwell, with four of their previous five fixtures producing only one goal, and they have not scored more than once in any of their last six games.

Bolton -1 on corners handicap - 11/10

Bolton seem to generate plenty of corners regardless of the match result and even if they come away empty-handed against Wycombe they are worth backing to take at least two more corners than the visitors.

The Trotters took more corners than Barnsley in their 4-1 defeat last week and forced 12 compared to Rotherham's two in their previous match.

Bolton denied Wigan Athletic a single corner while taking four themselves at the start of the month, while they beat Blackpool 6-2 on corners despite losing 2-1 to the Tangerines.

Wycombe have earned fewer corners than Stevenage and Huddersfield despite winning their last two games, conceding eight in each match.

They also earned fewer corners than their opponents in the matches against Lincoln and Rotherham, although they forced more corners in their games against Reading and basement side Shrewsbury Town.

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Bolton Wanderers v Wycombe Wanderers odds

Bolton Wanderers - 31/20
Draw - 9/4
Wycombe Wanderers - 7/4

View the full market and more odds for Bolton Wanderers v Wycombe Wanderers on site

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.

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