Bolton Wanderers v West Bromwich Albion (or That Damn Peter Odemwingie)

The Nigerian striker will be fit again to play Bolton on Boxing Day.  He is pivotal to what West Brom do, and will make things difficult for the Wanderers.  Not only does he score (6 goals in 11 matches), but his presence and intelligent movement creates space as well as opportunity for the Baggies' midfielders.

If I am honest, Odemwingie (pictured, right) is exactly the type of player Bolton tend to struggle against.  Of course, we have only kept one clean sheet all season, so I think it would be fair to say we struggle against most strikers.

These two clubs played to a draw a couple months ago, in a wide-open attacking match that was one of the finest spectacles of this season.  West Brom will have had two weeks to prepare for this match because of weather-related postponements, while Bolton are coming off an away loss in one of only three matches played last weekend.  Whether this provides an edge to either side on Sunday I am not sure, but going into a run of four matches in eleven days, we may see some squad rotation on both sides.

West Bromwich Albion v Bolton Wanderers

The second half of this match was some of the best football you are ever going to see.  Just a thrilling, end-to-end affair, the technical ability, the tackling, managers matching wits, it was all there.  A great advertisement for the game, as well as for the new positive attacking mentality that has been present at many clubs who would have previously been expected to pack it in and play for a draw.  In all honesty, it was far greater spectacle than the Chelsea v Arsenal snoozefest down in London.

A draw was probably a fair result, although both clubs had several opportunities to secure all three points.  Martin Petrov may have got a deflected goal against Manchester United, but he appears to have left his scoring boots in a brothel somewhere outside Sophia.  One player I really want to mention for West Brom is Peter Odemwingie (pictured, below).  He has been a absolute revelation since he arrived, and it was a real coup for Roberto Di Matteo to sign him.

In my season preview, I wrote of West Brom;

They count on midfielders Chris Brunt and Graham Dorrans to provide the goals, as principal striker Roman Bednar just can't get it done at this level. Brunt is only 25, a Northern Irish international who has always shown a knack for scoring goals, and Di Matteo will rely heavily on him.