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Arsenal head to the North-West on Wednesday night to take on Bolton Wanderers in a bid to get back to winning ways in the Premier League. The Gunners have lost their last three league games, to Fulham, Swansea and Man United respectively. They were staring down a fourth straight defeat in the FA Cup 4th round against Aston Villa on Sunday, but a rousing 2nd half comeback helped them progress to the next stage of the competition.

Meanwhile, Bolton have had a surprising upturn in fortunes over the past month, jumping out of the relegation zone with two vital victories. Owen Coyle's side earned remarkable wins over Everton and Liverpool to give their survival chances a huge boost. Earlier in the season, Arsenal beat the Trotters 3-0 at the Emirates, but Bolton won this fixture last year.

Bolton

The Trotters have seemingly turned a corner this season after picking up three consecutive victories in all competitions. The FA Cup triumphs against Swansea & Macclesfield are sandwiched by that 3-1 victory against Liverpool. It was the first time this season that Bolton completely outplayed an opponent in midfield as Liverpool put in an abject performance. It was only Bolton's 2nd home victory of the season and was in fact only the 3rd time they had avoided defeat at the Reebok all season.

Mark Davies has been instrumental in their turnaround, with the midfielder rising to become the engine room of this Bolton side. In Davies, Nigel Reo-Coker and Fabrice Muamba, Owen Coyle has a core of combative central midfielders. But the lack of goals up front and a very leaky defence still poses a serious threat to their Premier League status. Leaky is an understatement for the worst defence in the league, with 47 goals being shipped in from 22 games!

On the injury front, Jussi Jasskelainen is yet to fully recover from a thigh injury and is likely to miss the game.

Arsenal

It has been a rollercoaster few weeks for Arsenal fans as they have witnessed their side lose ground on Chelsea for the final Champions League spot. Arsenal have won only one of their last five PL games, thus giving Chelsea a comfortable five point lead in 4th place. Their season seemed to be headed further down the drain when Villa took a 2-0 lead in the FA Cup on Sunday as the home side were booed at half-time. Arsene Wenger's rollicking at half-time proved to be the magic tonic as the Gunners turned the game around with three goals in 15 minutes to make it 3-2.

The comeback will come as a huge boost to a side famous for its mental fragility. It was in fact the first time since late November that Arsenal scored more than one goal in a game at the Emirates. They have found the back of the net 17 times at home this season, the lowest return in the Top Five. But the more alarming stat comes under the away column, where they have lost six of the 11 fixtures on the road while conceding 25 goals in the process.

There was some positive news on the injury front as Bacary Sagna made a welcome return from injury last Sunday. Arsenal have struggled without the right-back and have had to slot everyone from Johan Djourou to Francis Coquelin into the full-back position. Mikel Arteta also recovered from his injury sufficiently to make an appearance against Villa.

Head-to-Head:

24th Sept, 2011: Arsenal 3-0 Bolton
24th April, 2011: Bolton 2-2 Arsenal

Form Guide:

Bolton: WWWLD

28th Jan, 2012: Bolton 2-1 Swansea (FA Cup)
21st Jan, 2012: Bolton 3-1 Liverpool
17th Jan, 2012: Bolton 2-0 Macclesfield (FA Cup)
14th Jan, 2012: Man United 3-0 Bolton
7th Jan, 2012: Macclesfield 2-2 Bolton (FA Cup)

Arsenal: WLLWL

29th Jan, 2012: Arsenal 3-2 Aston Villa
22nd Jan, 2012: Arsenal 1-2 Man United
15th Jan, 2012: Swansea 3-2 Arsenal
9th Jan, 2012: Arsenal 1-0 Leeds (FA Cup)
2nd Jan, 2012: Fulham 2-1 Arsenal

Probable Line-Ups:

Bolton (4-5-1): Bogdan (Gk), Steinsson, Knight, Wheater, Robinson, Eagles, Muamba, Davies, Reo-Coker, Petrov, Ngog

Adam Bogdan will continue in goal while Gretar Steinsson & Paul Robinson start behind Chris Eagles & Martin Petrov in the wide positions. New recruit Tim Ream is available for selection, but Coyle is unlikely to give him his first taste of England on Wednesday, especially with Robin van Persie on the other side. So, Zat Knight & David Wheater will continue in central defence, with the midfield trio of Muamba, Reo-Coker & Davies providing a shield. Up front, David Ngog might start as the lone striker.

Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Szczesny (Gk), Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Arteta, Song, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Walcott, Van Persie

Wojciech Szczesny was rested for the FA Cup game last weekend and he should reclaim his spot in goal on Wednesday. Sagna is expected to start on the right while Meresacker, Koscielny and Vermaelen complete the back-four. Mikel Arteta should also return to the starting line-up and he will slot into his deep role alongside Alex Song. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has started the last two games, is favourite to start on the left while Theo Walcott continues on the right. Tomas Rosicky has been in good form over the past few weeks and might feature in place of one the wingers. Up front, Aaron Ramsey & Van Persie will continue to play off each other.

Prediction: One clean sheet in the last seven PL games indicates a weakness in defence for Arsenal. But they will be up against the most porous defence in the league and if they can put away their chances they should cantor to victory.

Predicted Score: Bolton 1-2 Arsenal

File Photograph Copyright:·Ryu Voelkel

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