Liverpool travel to Bolton on Saturday evening well aware anything less than three points at the Reebok Stadium will cast serious doubts over their already flagging top-four ambitions.
A seventh Premier League draw of the season at Anfield in last weekend's dire stalemate against Stoke has left the 18-time champions of England five points adrift of fourth place.

Wednesday:

• Tim Bolton

Wheater: No Rafa...

Reports say that Tim Bolton deal is etched.

Ream will battle former Middlesborough phenom David Wheater for playing time at Bolton with Wheater getting the first call obviously to replace The Overrated Gary Cahill.

In a day of very few shocks, two Premier League sides Bolton and Wigan were surprised by lower league opponents in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

Wigan's troubled season took another turn for the worse as they crashed out 2-1 too League Two side Swindon Town. Calum McManaman had put Wigan 1-0 up but Swindon, managed by Italian Paolo Di Canio, struck back to claim a famous win with goals coming from Alan Connell and Paul Benson.

Pulling with Steve Bruce Ep.15 League Of His Own by Off The Post on Mixcloud This week, despite a chunk of Premier League games achieving grindingly mediocre status, the Pod has polished up a few moments that made it less offensive to the senses. Get ready to discover why Gareth Barry's sharpness is primarily down [.

By Alan Duffy

Bolton Wanderers 0-2 Everton Premier League 26th November 2011

Any hopes Owen Coyle's Bolton side had of securing a vital victory against Everton on Saturday were extinguished after just 10 minutes when David Wheater saw red for a dangerous tackle on Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

By Alan Duffy

Bolton Wanderers 0-2 Sunderland Premier League 22 October 2011

Goals from Stephane Sessegnon and Nicklas Bendtner gave Sunderland their first way win of the season and consigned Owen Coyle's sorry Bolton side to yet another defeat.

Arsenal 3-0 Bolton

Written by Jamie

I can remember as a kid being on holiday. After two days of solid rain suddenly the morning gave way to a raft of sunshine. My Grandfather walked down to the steps to the swimming pool with a cool drink and Dinah Washington's seminal hit "What a Difference a Day Makes" soothing the hot air.

Video highlights and reaction

So, that was a bit better, eh? The corner remains unturned, our backness on the track has yet to be determined, but we needed a performance and a result to at least start the confidence trickling back and we got that.

The only things worth talking about from the first half were a fantastic Szczesny save in the early minutes (that's quite a nice habit he's developing, even if you do wish we wouldn't allow the chances), a van Persie free kick curled just wide, and a Gervinho shot which whistled not far over the bar.

By Alan Duffy

Arsenal 3-0 Bolton Wanderers Premier League September 24 2011

Gunners captain Robin van Persie made it a century of goals for Arsenal as Arsene Wenger's under-pressure charges produced a decent enough performance to beat Bolton 3-0 at the Emirates.

Robin Van Persie scored twice as Arsenal overran 10-man Bolton 3-0 to complete a one-sided Premier League win at the Emirates Stadium.

The home captain set Arsenal on the road to three much-needed points when he dribbled past Fabrice Muamba to thump the ball beyond Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen from eight yards out on 47 minutes.

Dare I suggest that we can concentrate on the league now? No? Didn't think so. Nevertheless, we are out of the Carling Cup thanks to a 2-0 loss at home to Bolton in what, by all accounts, was an utterly dismal performance.

Chris Eagles picked up on a Marc Albrighton mistake to score a screamer from 20 yards.

Liverpool v Bolton Wanderers as it happened | Scott Murray

Perhaps the only highlight of former Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson's painful reign last season came when his side did the double over Bolton Wanderers. But even those slim pickings, secured on New Year's Day with a late Joe Cole goal at Anfield, not long before Roy was told to do one, can be put into context: it was Liverpool's fourth double in a row over the Trotters.

They won't be smiling tonight... we hope.

Starting Lineups
Bolton Wanderers: Bogdan, Riley, Wheater, Knight, Alonso, Eagles, Petrov, M Davies, Pratley, Tuncay, Blake
Macclesfield Town: Veiga, Tremarco, Kay, Brown, Chalmers, Draper, Sinclair, Diagne, Brisley, Wedgbury, Hewitt

-
-
QPR vs Bolton: - TEAMS
QPR: Kenny, Hill, Derry, Hall, Gabbidon, Taarabt, Dyer, Campbell, Bothroyd, Faurlin, Smith
Subs: Murphy, Orr, Buzsaky, Connolly, Agyemang, Helguson, Ephraim
BOLTON -Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Eagles, Muamba, Reo-Coker, Petrov, K Davies, Klasnic
Subs: Bogdan, Alonso, Gardner, M Davies, Blake, Pratley, Wheater

On his way to the Reebok?

The reports this morning regarding Bolton Wanderers have been conflicting as always. The Birmingham Mail suggest that Bolton are on the brink of signing striker Cameron Jerome from Brum while the Bolton Evening News suggests that Bolton are not interested in the striker.

Jamie Watson beats Marcos Alonso down the flank as Bolton took on Orlando.

In the aftermath of Bolton beating Orlando City 3-1 last night, we've had a quick word with Orlando City forward Jamie Watson. Jamie started the match for the Lions and provided a number of good runs and opportunities to give the Wanderers a challenge.

This is the only picture I could find...

While I haven't exactly been starved of football this summer, between the Gold Cup and the Women's World Cup, there is nothing like watching the mighty Bolton Wanderers. The Trotters began their preseason with a stop in at Al Lang Stadium to play FC Tampa Bay.

One point of their possible last 30 road. Let that sink in. Owen Coyle is a motivating genius at the Reebok but away from home, not so much. His inability to make changes to the team has largely been Bolton's greatest pitfall this season. Anyone that follows @BoltonOffside on Twitter has seen me bemoan the lack of substitutions before the 70th minute.

Lineups are in:

Bolton: Starters: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Elmander, Muamba, Taylor, Sturridge, K. Davies Bench: Bogdan, Petrov, M. Davies, Klasnic, Moreno, Cohen, Wheater

Arsenal: Starters: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Walcott, Nasri, Fabregas, Song, Wilshere, Van Persie Bench: Lehmann, Ramsey, Squillaci, Arshavin, Gibbs, Eboue, Chamakh

Come on Arsenal!

As Matilda so eloquently put it in her match preview, Fulham FC ain't nothin' to mess wit' in the FA Cup. A side that's much more in form in this competition that they have been in the Premier League this season and have been averaging a goal every 17 minutes at the Cottage in the Cup. The fixture between Bolton and Fulham is one of only two matches in the fifth round between two Premier League sides.

WIGAN, England — Ivan Klasnic fired Bolton Wanderers to a 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic in their FA Cup fourth-round replay at the DW Stadium on Wednesday. Owen Coyle's side can look forward to a fifth-round trip to Fulham this weekend thanks to Croatian striker Klasnic's second-half winner. While Wanderers' Wembley bid remains alive, Wigan [.

What we thought was the start of a resurgence after the Wolves results was quickly snuffed out by Niko Kranjcar's stunner of a strike to end the Tottenham match. Still, new signing Daniel Sturridge has started like multiple houses on fire with two goals in his first two matches. The young Chelsea lad has provided a creative spark to the offense.

Four goals in the last seven games with only one win in that lot: York City. To say that the offense has been slacking is an understatement. Fresh legs and a restart are badly needed. Hopefully our new signing will bring just that.

Welcome to Bolton, Daniel Sturridge!
The young Chelsea and England U-21 forward has been struggling for minutes at Stamford Bridge.

David Wheater, of Dancing With the Trotters fame, is our one signing in this transfer window which is just a few days from closing. To say that this silly season has been frustrating would be the understatement of the year. Let's have a roll call, shall we?
Curtis Davies: Just signed with Birmingham City
Ivan Rakitic: Just signed with Sevilla
Carlos Vela: Decided to go to West Brom for 6 months and help them get relegated.

Chelsea travels to the Reebok today in search of a third consecutive win in all competitions. A solid brick on the yellow road to recovery it would most certainly be. Just think, three wins in a row.

Afterward, there could be a small celebration. One complete with a plethora of piñatas. Come on Didier, I know you know what a plethora is.

Morning all. Throughout January Soccerlens is going to be bringing you a daily round-up of the morning's various goings-on. Be it juicy morsels of spurious transfer gossip or real, actual bona fide news, rest assured, we'll have it covered.

Here's this morning's batch.

Free-Wieling.

The Arsenal transfer rumours are still coming in thick and fast, although there doesn't seem to be much solid action from Arsene Wenger. The only real possibility is he arrival of a centre-back and, according to the Metro, Bolton's Gary Cahill is still the number one target. Now that David Wheater has made his move [.

BOLTON, England Bolton Wanderers have announced the signing of defender David Wheater for an undisclosed fee from Championship outfit Middlesbrough. The former England Under-21 defender has signed a three-and-a-half year deal and linked-up with his new team-mates for the first time on Thursday morning at the club's Euxton-based training complex.

The transfer window finally kick started this week Aston Villa made sure it wouldn't be a dull one, but what does the less glamorised move of David Wheater from Boro to Bolton mean for the next 11 days of the market? Having signed for an initial £2.3m, Wheater steps into a defence that is predominantly English, with Zat Knight and Gary Cahill established at Trotters rear, in front of the eternally youthful Jaaskelainen.

By Chris Wright

Wheater: witch-chinned

Bolton have officially confirmed the signing of statuesque (think 'Easter Island') centre-back David Wheater from Middlesbrough for an initial fee of just £2.3 million (rising by a further £1 million further on down the line), which ain't a bad little bit of business in my 'umble estimation.

I've seen that Bolton have finally signed Middlesborough defender David Wheater.
So I suppose many people will now assume that an Arsenal move for Gary Cahill is on the cards.
I don't think it's going to happen.
For me David Wheater isn't a signing to replace Gary Cahill.

After an excellent round of will-he-won't-he, it appears that Middlesbrough and Bolton have finally agreed on the details, and now the contract is just waiting on personal terms. If you've been under a rock this transfer window, the player in question in David Wheater, a 6′5″ central defender and dancing queen.

Good morning to you and welcome to a brand new week.

Cup football is the order of business again as we switch our sights from FA to Carling and it'll be interesting, having seen some of the players struggle against Leeds, what exactly the manager does on Wednesday night. Will he keep faith and hope that another game so quickly will increase sharpness and see them recapture some form, or will he add a few of the 'first' team in from the start to try and get things back on track?