West Ham v Bolton preview

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By James Pearson   Last updated: 5th October 2008

west ham gianfranco zola newcastle

Zola: Two Prem wins out of two

PREDICTIONS:

Skysports.com prediction: West Ham 1 Bolton 2

SKY BET odds: Chelsea 8/11, Draw 5/2, Bolton 4/1

One to watch: Craig Bellamy

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West Ham will be looking to continue their impressive start under new manager Gianfranco Zola against Bolton at Upton Park.

The Hammers have won both their league games under Italian tactician Zola after beating Newcastle at home and Fulham away.

The omens are against Bolton this weekend with Gary Megson's men failing to win any of their last 15 Premier League trips to the capital.

There are likely to be goals at Upton Park as West Ham have not kept a clean sheet in 11 meetings with Bolton and have gone 18 games overall without preventing the opposition from scoring.

Collins back

Defender James Collins is back in contention for West Ham having successfully come through a reserve outing in midweek, although it is unlikely he will make an immediate return on Sunday.

Matthew Upson, Lucas Neill and Calum Davenport are all ahead of Collins in the pecking order while Danny Gabbidon is also back in first-team training, although he will not be considered against Bolton.

Carlton Cole and Italian David Di Michele are likely to retain their places up front, although Craig Bellamy is pushing hard for a start after coming off the bench against The Cottagers.

Striker Dean Ashton and Kieron Dyer remain long-term injury victims for Zola and will play no part for the foreseeable future.

Shake off

Bolton performed well in their last outing at Manchester United and will need to shake off the injustice of the controversial penalty award if they are to return to winning ways.

Megson has a welcome selection headache with left-sided midfielder Matthew Taylor (broken toe) fit again, although Ricardo Gardner will be hoping to retain his place in the starting XI.

However, should Megson opt to change things around at left-back, either Taylor or Gardner could also come in for Jlloyd Samuel.

Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander are likely to be Bolton's strike force at Upton Park, although both Ebi Smolarek and Ricardo Vaz Te will be hoping to get the nod.

Possible starting XIs

West Ham: Green, Neill, Davenport, Upson, Ilunga, Faubert, Parker, Noble, Etherington, Di Michele, Cole.

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, O'Brien, Samuel, Muamba, Nolan, McCann, Taylor, Davies, Elmander.