Sheffield Wednesday, then of the Championship, got the better of Bolton Wanderers, then of League One, when they met at the first-round stage of last season's EFL Cup.
Twelve months on from that penalty shootout success for the Owls they meet again in the EFL Cup, this time with roles reversed.
Wednesday are back in the third tier after the worst season in their history while the Trotters are back on the up, promoted to the Championship via the play-offs in May.
Sheffield Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers Tips Summary
Best Bet - Bolton Wanderers to win @ 11/10
Alternative Bet - Ruben Rodrigues anytime scorer @ 3/1
Bet Builder - Over 4 Sheffield Wednesday corners, Goals range 3-5 & Bolton to qualify @ 5/1
Sheffield Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers Prediction
Best Bet: Bolton Wanderers to win @ 11/10
A year ago these clubs drew 3-3, despite Bolton going down to 10 men midway through the first half, before Wednesday won the penalty shootout.
Since then, the Owls have gone through the floor, Bolton have gone up and they meet again in very different circumstances.
There is frustration at Bolton over a quiet summer of transfers which could impact their early Championship games - but this is no Championship game.
Relegated Wednesday were chinned 4-0 by Oldham Athletic in their final pre-season game, the seventh of eight in which they failed to score a single goal.
The Trotters might not be at their very best, but they may not have to be to see off an Owls side who could easily fold at the first whiff of difficulty so embedded are the scars from last year.
Alternative Bet: Ruben Rodrigues anytime scorer @ 3/1
Ruben Rodrigues has played himself into the No.10 role for Bolton after a successful summer with four goals.
That was added to the two he bagged against Stockport County in the League One play-off final win at Wembley in May.
The well-travelled Portuguese schemer looks a decent price to score at Hillsborough, especially given how positive Wanderers are and how fragile Wednesday look.
Sheffield Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers Bet Builder Tip
Over 4 Sheffield Wednesday corners
Goals range 3-5
Bolton to qualify
Pays 5/1
The Owls averaged 4.3 corners per game as a terrible team going down last season.
This season, while their summer has been disappointing on the pitch, plenty of new faces have arrived to lift spirits.
This should be an open game but one in which Wednesday will be chasing, in which case take Henrik Pedersen's men to win over four corners as the first leg of the Bet Builder.
There should be goals in this game, but hopefully not as many as the six these two combined to deliver a year ago. Wednesday had a 60 per cent hit rate for games with over 2.5 goals last term, so go for a goals range of 3-5.
Finally, Wednesday do have a knack of taking ties to shootouts so, just in case, put Bolton to qualify rather than win in 90 minutes as a sign-off for the Bet Builder.
Learn more about how Bet Builders work in our Bet Builder guide.
Key Match Stats
This is a repeat of a first-round tie from 12 months ago which Wednesday won on penalties after the game had ended 3-3
Bolton have suffered six first-round exits in the EFL Cup over the past 11 seasons
Wednesday have been involved in nine penalty shootouts in the last six seasons, featuring in at least one shootout every campaign since 2020/21
Ruben Rodrigues, Bolton's two-goal hero of their League One play-off final win over Stockport, has added four more goals in pre-season
The Owls played 50 matches last season and won just two of them
Wednesday failed to find the net in seven of their eight pre-season friendlies
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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.
