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Preview: Manchester United vs. Bolton

Preview: Manchester United vs. Bolton
© PA Photos
Manchester United will try to snatch three points from Bolton on Saturday after Tottenham drew level in second place in the league table yesterday.

Manchester United have the chance to keep pressure on Manchester City in their bid to retain the title when they take on Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford this Saturday.

The Red Devils, who are three points adrift of City in the table, have welcomed back Chris Smalling, who should slot back into defensive duty alongside Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Phil Jones.

Despite Anders Lindegaard starting the side's last two matches in goal, Sir Alex Ferguson may be tempted to bring back David de Gea after conceding five goals in two fixtures.

Danny Welbeck could partner Wayne Rooney up front after scoring in the Premier League champions' 3-2 FA Cup win over Manchester City on Sunday, leaving Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez to fight for their place.

There is a chance that Bolton will be without defender Gary Cahill as he closes in on a switch to Chelsea. In this case, the Trotters are likely to call upon David Wheater to fill in at centre-back.

Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen remains on the sidelines with an injury, therefore Adam Bogdan should continue in goal for the Lancashire side. Former Liverpool striker David N'Gog could get the nod over Tuncay Sanli and Ivan Klasnic following his goal against Everton last week.

Current form:

Manchester United: WWWWLL
Bolton: LLWLDW

Possible lineups:

Manchester United: De Gea; Ferdinand, Smalling, Evra, Jones; Carrick, Anderson, Nani, Valencia; Rooney, Welbeck

Bolton: Bogdan; Wheater, Knight, Ricketts, Steinsson; Muamba, Reo-Coker, M.Davies, Petrov; Eagles, N'Gog

Sports Mole says: 3-0

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Written by
Danielle Joynson

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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool15113131131836
2Chelsea16104237191834
3Arsenal1686229151430
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest168442119228
5Manchester CityMan City168352823527
6Bournemouth167452421325
7Aston Villa167452425-125
8Fulham166642422224
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton166642625124
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1672736191723
11Brentford167273230223
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle166552321223
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd166462119222
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham165472129-819
15Crystal Palace163761721-416
16Everton153661421-715
17Leicester CityLeicester163582134-1314
18Ipswich TownIpswich162681628-1212
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1623112440-169
20Southampton1612131136-255


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