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Bolton Wanderers vs Leeds United; Sky Bet Championship

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Bolton Wanderers vs Leeds United. Sky Bet Championship.

University of Bolton StadiumAttendance19,857.

Bolton Wanderers 2

  • G Madine (39th minute)
  • A Le Fondre (67th minute pen)

Leeds United 3

  • K Phillips (7th minute, 42nd minute)
  • C Wood (30th minute)

Bolton v Leeds: Phil Parkinson has plenty of options at his disposal for season opener

Sky Live - Bolton Wanderers v Leeds United

Bolton boss Phil Parkinson has plenty of options at his disposal as the Trotters return to the Championship by facing Leeds, live on Sky Sports Football from 4pm on Sunday.

Parkinson has added to his promotion-winning squad with 10 new signings, all of which are available for Sunday's clash. Defenders Andrew Taylor, Stephen Darby, Mark Little and Reece Burke, midfielders Will Buckley, Sammy Ameobi and Josh Cullen and forwards Adam Le Fondre, Adam Armstrong and Aaron Wilbraham are all hoping to feature.

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Le Fondre, who scored six goals in 19 appearances during a loan spell with the club last season, is likely to start in attack alongside Gary Madine.

Leeds head coach Thomas Christiansen has a fully-fit squad to choose from for his first game in charge of the club. Summer signings Mateus Klich, Felix Wiedwald, Vurnon Anita, Caleb Ekuban, Samuel Saiz, Ezgjan Alioski and Matthew Pennington are all in contention for their debuts.

Christiansen must decide whether to stick with Wiedwald in goal after the German started in place of Rob Green in last week's friendly win against Oxford. Chris Wood, top goalscorer in the Championship last season, is likely to resume up front and midfielder Eunan O'Kane is expected to start after some impressive displays during pre-season.

Adam Le Fondre celebrates  Bolton's third goal
Image: Adam Le Fondre could feature for Bolton

Opta stats

Bolton have failed to score in three of their last five opening day bouts, winning just once (D2 L2).

Leeds' 0-3 defeat to QPR last term was their heaviest loss in a season opener since 1989/90 vs Newcastle (2-5).

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For the seventh consecutive season, Leeds start the season with a different manager (Simon Grayson, Neil Warnock, Brian McDermott, Dave Hockaday, Uwe Rosler, Garry Monk and Thomas Christiansen).

The Yorkshire side have failed to win their last 12 away games played on a Sunday in all competitions (D5 L7), scoring four times and conceding 19 in those 12 games.

Bolton won 86 points en route to promotion from League One last season, their best total in a single season since 2000/01 (87).

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The Sky Bet EFL returns on Friday with Sunderland hosting Derby live on Sky Sports Football.

Prutton's prediction

Leeds had a poor end to last season but I fancy them to get off to a good start here. Their fans will pack out the away end and it should be a cracking atmosphere on Sunday.

I think they should be aiming for at least the play-offs, while Phil Parkinson will be more than happy with Bolton consolidating their position in the Championship after promotion. Leeds to sneak it I reckon.

Prutton predicts: 1-2 with Chris Wood to score first (30/1 with Sky Bet)