AFC WIMBLEDON vs BOLTON WANDERERS LEAGUE ONE SATURDAY 7th MARCH 2020

Welcome to Kingsmeadow where we play host this weekend to the league's bottom side Bolton Wanderers. Both sides are struggling for a run of form and draw far too many games while Bolton did manage a win against Tranmere which might be a good thing for us this is clearly a side that needs to rebuild for the future having had plenty of problems over past few seasons. The Dons have managed a few points but lacked a win for a while until our latest 2-1 away win against Gillingham with a late winner from Callum Reilly. That result followed a boring but handy point against Ipswich which was followed up with an excellent 2-2 draw away against the league leaders Rotherham. In between those matches we also managed to get battered by Oxford 5-0 so it would be nice for us to have a win of that calibre here today. All those results mean we are now up to 19th position in the table on 34 points, but that's 8 points above Tranmere Rovers who are in the drop zone and we are also in touch with a few clubs above us so it's not going to be that desperate miracle needed this season perhaps. Back in January the Plough Lane Bond was launched and has cleared the initial target of £5m raised all done by the superb fans and all in a fairly short space of time, truly awesome and means we are much closer to making a return 'home' a reality this summer !! You can click here to see details of the Plough Lane Bond, and to steal their catch phrase "It's Time We Had a Home Game".

FORM GUIDE
(Last 6 matches in league one, the most recent result shown from left to right)
AFC Wimbledon -- WDLDDL
Bolton Wanderers -- DLLLLL

LAST TIME OUT
Gillingham 1 AFC Wimbledon 2
Bolton Wanderers 0 Accrington Stanley 0

Our opponents Bolton were always going to be struggling this season not just with the points deduction for administration but the fall out of their last few seasons and losing nearly all their first team players. Probably already down in all but name but showed in the 2-2 draw with the Dons that they will keep fighting and this is no easy three points despite their form showing five straight defeats prior to the game with Accrington last weekend. Currently sitting in 23rd place on 12 points some 21 points away from safety with the Dons now slightly above the drop zone. Hopefully they will be able to regroup with the inevitable relegation down in League Two and haven't succumbed like Bury FC sadly have. Updates will be published with team updates and more as and when it comes through, the Dons winning goalscorer against Gillingham Callum Reilly looks likely to start again now after his recent groin injury kept him out for a while.

Starting Line Ups (Confirmed);

AFC WIMBLEDON

Odds -- 11/10 (William Hill) 

Day (Gk),  O'Neill,  Thomas,  Bech Sørensen,  Wagstaff (c),  McLoughlin,  Hartigan,  Reilly,  Guinness-Walker,  Appiah,  Pigott

Subs – Trott (Gk),  McDonald,  Roscrow,  Pinnock,  Lamy,  Rudoni,  Sanders

BOLTON WANDERERS

Odds -- 23/10 (William Hill) 

Matthews (Gk),  Lowe (c),  Nsiala,  Delaney,  Fleming,  Politic,  Murphy,  Hamilton,  Dodoo,  Crawford,  Murphy

Subs –  Alexander (Gk),  Emmanuel,  Bunney,  Georgiou,  Faal,  Brockbank,  Darcy

Selected Bets on today's match;
Wimbledon to win and BOTH teams to score @5/1.
Over 1.5 Goals (1st half) @2/1.
Penalty Awarded and Scored @9/2.
Red Card in the match @11/2.

⚽H/T Score – 0 - 0

First Half Comment;
It's Wimbledon that kick off in this important relegation encounter here at Kingsmeadow, it's a cold day but three points would warm us up somewhat. Not much to take heart from this half as Bolton seem to be on the front foot with more possession, more chances, more corners too. I don't quite understand how we play better against teams in the top six and struggle so much with the other teams in the bottom. It's still 0-0 so we might be able to get something out of this maybe in the second half. Best efforts so far coming from Guinness-Walker and Callum Reilly, more please.

⚽F/T Score – 0 - 0

Match Summary;

Complete waste of 90 mins, never looked likely to win, and all of them need to have a long hard look at themselves, very very poor game against the worst team in the league, failure to beat them home and away might see us go down with them. Feel for the other fans that make the effort, put their time and money into the club only to be served up that crap. Seriously if you think that was worth paying for you are delusional. 

My Man of the Match – no one, absolute crap all of them, should be ashamed of that very poor effort.

Referee -- Our match official for this game will be Mr Marc Edwards relatively young and was only promoted from the National League this season, hopefully he'll have a good game and it's noted he did take charge of the reverse fixture a 2-2 draw up at Bolton. He will be assisted by Andrew Laver and Daniel Cook on the sidelines with the Fourth Official duties under the care of Abbas Khan.

Attendance – 4,804.

Dons next league match:
Saturday 14th March vs Doncaster Rovers (Away)
League One Kick off 3:00pm

SANDOWN PARK -- IMPERIAL CUP DAY SATURDAY 7th MARCH 2020

Paddy Power Imperial Cup Day 2020

With only a few days till this years Cheltenham Festival we have a wonderful warm up with the annual Sandown Park Imperial Cup meeting. We will have seven races taking place on Imperial Cup day, now sponsored by Paddy Power, and will be featuring two Grade 3 hurdles and a listed National Hunt flat race. The Imperial Cup was first run in 1907 and was considered the most important and prestigious hurdle race of the season right up until the launch of the Champion hurdle at Cheltenham in 1927. The last three winners of this race – Malaya, London Prize and Mr Antolini – didn’t go onto run at the Cheltenham Festival while Flying Angel (winner in 2016) finished runner up in the Martin Pipe Conditional race so you have to go back to Gaspara (below in 2007) to find the last winner of this to go on and gain success at the Festival picking up a nice bonus in the process.

GASPARA WINNING IN 2007

A £100,000 bonus is again up for grabs for winners of this race to go on and win next week at the festival, the likes of Olympian [1993], Blowing Wind [1998] and Gaspara [2007] have all gone on to win at the Cheltenham Festival after winning here at Sandown Park, the first two of these trained by the legendary Martin Pipe, then son David Pipe picked up the reigns and repeated the feat with Gaspara. Last year the feature race was won by Malaya [7/1] ridden by Harry Cobden and trained by Paul Nicholls who didn't go onto Cheltenham, so who will be victorious in 2020?

MEETING ABANDONED
Both Friday and Saturday's racing at Sandown Park has been called off, after 18mm of rain yesterday the course is waterlogged and unfortunately racing on Saturday has been abandoned. 

Sandown Park
Going: Hurdle: heavy-soft in places; Chase: soft-heavy in places.

13:20  THE PADDY POWER JUVENILE HANDICAP HURDLE RACE
(4yo, Class 3, 1m 7f 216y, xx runners)

13:55 THE EUROPEAN BREEDERS’ FUND PADDY POWER ‘NATIONAL HUNT’ NOVICES’ HANDICAP HURDLE RACE FINAL (Grade 3)
(4yo to 7yo, Class 1, 2m 3f 173y, xx runners)

14:30 THE PADDY POWER IMPERIAL CUP HANDICAP HURDLE RACE (Grade 3)
(4yo+, Class 1, 1m 7f 216y, xx runners)

15:05 THE EUROPEAN BREEDERS FUND MARES’ STANDARD OPEN NATIONAL HUNT FLAT RACE FINAL (Listed Race)

(4yo to 6yo, Class 1, 1m 7f 216y, xx runners)

15:40 THE PADDY POWER HANDICAP STEEPLE CHASE
(5yo+, Class 3, 3m 37y, xx runners)

16:15 THE PADDY POWER NOVICES’ LIMITED HANDICAP STEEPLE CHASE
(5yo+, Class 3, 2m 4f 10y, xx runners)

16:50 THE PADDYPOWER.COM HANDICAP STEEPLE CHASE
(5yo+, Class 3, 2m 4f 10y, xx runners)

Sadly no meeting for us now, but hopefully we can enjoy some racing at Southwell on Sunday instead (an all ladies fixture) Hope you have a good afternoon, and are all set for next week's Cheltenham Festival. We will have a blog entry for each day and covering all the races so hope you will return and check that out. Cheltenham Festival Day One - Champion Hurdle Blog will appear here from Monday night.

THE EMIRATES FA CUP 2020 -- FIFTH ROUND (Incl 6th Round Draw too)

This week will see the 5th round of this years FA Cup Competition sponsored by Emirates. It was already announced that this season's Emirates FA Cup fifth round will take place in midweek, to enable a mid-season break for Premier League teams. The Fifth-round ties will be played throughout the week commencing Monday 2 March, beginning with the Portsmouth vs Arsenal fixture. There are NO replays at this stage and should any of these games finish level after 90 minutes they will go to extra time and, if necessary, penalties to determine a winner on the night;

Monday 2nd March
Portsmouth vs Arsenal [BT Sport 19:45]
Our opening game this week sees League One Portsmouth take on Premier League Arsenal, both are winners of this competition of course, and much may depend on what sort of side the Gunners put out here as the have generally favoured playing many of their youngsters in the cup games. Their defeat in the Europa League last week however might mean they take a stronger focus on the Cup as top four is not going to happen so this is their best way back into Europe for next season. Pompey on the other hand have promotion on their minds sitting in the play off places in League One but not too far off the automatic places. With in form striker John Marquis banging in the goals there's always the chance of an upset here.
Selected Bets 
 - Over 1.5 Goals Half Time @6/4.
 - John Marquis[*] to score anytime @11/4.
[*] would need to start, but appears on the bench
Result -  0 - 2.

Tuesday 3rd March

Chelsea vs Liverpool [BBC 19:45]
All Premier League clash here and Live on BBC (no surprise) Chelsea are very hit and miss in both league and Europe and even if Champions elect Liverpool play a 'weakened' side as they have done up to now this should be a cracker. Liverpool are priced up at 2/1 which suggests that it will be another young line up here, despite their defeat by Watford on Saturday night (3-0) still think they have Champions League progress on their mind but will update on Tuesday if the team news changes.
Bets 
- Chelsea to lead at half time @7/4. WON
Result - 2 - 0.

Reading vs Sheffield United [20:00]
The Royals host the surprise package of the Premier League in Sheffield United, this should be simple for the Blades based on this season's form although the cup can be a great leveller. Reading won 2-0 against Barnsley in the Championship on Saturday while Sheffield United didn't have a game so arrive here fresh, if they take this seriously enough (and with Chris Wilder in charge they should) a comfortable win should be secured and I'll back them to do so by about 2-3 goals.
Bets
 - Total match goals over 3.5 @3/1.
 - Sheffield United to win and both teams to score @3/1.
Result - 1 - 2.

West Bromwich Albion vs Newcastle United [20:00]
Top of the Championship WBA face a side at the lower end of the Premier League so there's a big chance of an 'upset' here. It's Newcastle's lack of firepower up front that will be their Achilles heel sadly, a city so desperate in need of a trophy right now I fear they will concentrate on avoiding the drop, they played Burnley on the weekend which ended in a dour 0-0 draw while West Brom hosted Wigan and surprisingly lost 1-0.Bets 
 - West Brom to win @6/4
 - First half over 1.5 goals @2/1.
Result - 2 - 3.

Wednesday 4th March

Leicester City vs Birmingham City [19:45]
Despite their 1-0 defeat by Norwich on Friday this should be a straightforward win for Leicester here at home to Birmingham. Even without Jamie Vardy they ought to outclass their Championship opposition this evening. Birmingham were away at QPR on Saturday in a battle for the mid table trophy! That match ended in an entertaining 2-2 draw, Scott Hogan on loan from Aston Villa might be their key player having scored both goals on Saturday but I expect a comfortable win for Leicester.
Bets 
 - Leicester -2 Handicap to win @8/5.
Result - 1 - 0.

Sheffield Wednesday vs Manchester City [BBC 19:45]
Soon to be dethroned champions Manchester City travel to Sheffield Wednesday after their match in the League Cup Final on Sunday against Aston Villa which they won 2-1. The current FA Cup holders should make light work of their opponents here really, the league might be gone but Pep Guardiola does like to keep winning trophies and with the League Cup now secured and a good win last week in the Champions League (beating Real Madrid) too he'll look to this game as another step towards glory. Sheffield Wednesday faced Derby County on the weekend losing 1-3 and are about eight points off the play offs at the moment so it is likely to be another season of mid table mediocrity. Up front they have Steven Fletcher and Fernando Forestieri and could be some threat from set pieces, if they can get forward enough to win some with possession likely to be limited.
Bets 
 - Total Man City goals 4+ @2/1.  😞[very poor effort]
Result - 0 - 1.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Norwich City [19:45]
Tottenham host bottom of the Premier League Norwich in a competition that José Mourinho would see as a good target for some success while still chasing a top four spot. Norwich had a good morale boosting 1-0 win on Friday night against Leicester and certainly should not be underestimated. Tottenham still missing the injured Harry Kane and Son Heung-min will need the likes of Dele Ali and Dutch striker Steven Bergwijn to fill the gaps up front.
Bets 
 - Penalty awarded @9/4.
 - Red Card in the march @4/1.
Result - 1 - 1.  [Gone to extra time -  Norwich Won on Pens]

Thursday 5th March
Derby County vs Manchester United [BT Sport 19:45]
The final fixture in this round will see Wayne Rooney return to face his former side, though there is much more at stake here but this will be the main story in the pre-match build up. While United are still chasing a European place in the league they might look to rest a few for this, while I expect Derby to be really fired up for it as their position in mid table means their season is almost over not likely to go up or down. Rooney played a pivotal role in Derby's 1-0 win against Premier League side Crystal Palace in the third round and was again involved in most of the fourth round tie's key moments against Northampton sure to play a big part again and might even score but I think a penalty is a strong option and there should be plenty of goals too.
Bets 
- Penalty awarded and scored @4/1.
- Wayne Rooney to score anytime @4/1
Result - 0 - 3.

The FA Cup 6th round draw will also be made after the Sheffield Wednesday vs Manchester City game on Wednesday night and will appear here below as soon as it's available. Do hope you enjoy your week of FA Cup football action, not long to go till we are at Cheltenham and all the races will be covered here next week plus couple of meetings over the weekend too.

6th Round Draw
   Sheffield United   vs   Arsenal
   Newcastle United   vs   Manchester City
   Norwich City   vs   Manchester United
   Leicester City   vs   Chelsea