Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers faced off at the Toughsheet Community Stadium on Saturday evening with Amario Cozier-Duberry’s effort in the 60th minute giving Wanderers the advantage going into the second leg.
For large spells of the first leg, Steven Schumacher’s side had the ball with 65% possession, 12 shots (in comparison to Bradford’s three), and the all-important shot on target (in comparison to Bradford’s zero).
The second leg will take place at the University of Bradford Stadium, more commonly known to supporters as Valley Parade, on Thursday.
Bradford will be looking to mount a comeback whilst Bolton know that avoiding defeat will mean a trip to Wembley Stadium for the play-off final.
Ahead of the game, a number of key statistics stand-out and may be key heading into the clash.
Bolton go to Bradford with a one goal advantage and will look to defend that advantage in the second leg.
The Bantams will need to score at least twice if they are to secure a spot at Wembley, something that has not been achieved at home since the 2-0 home victory against Peterborough United.
Bolton, on the other hand, drew 18 games in the league this season with two of those coming against Graham Alexander’s side.
A third takes them to Wembley, something that Wanderers fans may go to the University of Bradford Stadium with in mind.
Bolton have scored in each of their last five games and scored 70 times during the course of the league season, the second most of any of the four teams in the play-offs.
Bradford City, in contrast, only scored 58 times with 17 of the side’s 22 victories during the league season being by just one goal. A one goal win will not be enough for glory on Thursday evening, the Bantams have to go for more.
Nothing separated the sides in the league fixtures when they came head to head in terms of scoring and a moment of magic from Cozier-Duberry meant Bolton won the first-leg, although it could have been a bigger margin going into the second leg.
Should Bolton score in the second leg, Bradford City will need to score at least three times to go through, something which has not been achieved by the Bantams at home since their 3-1 win against Huddersfield Town last September.
Graham Alexander made the decision to put Tyreik Wright into the frame as a substitution for Saturday’s first leg with the 24-year-old coming on in the second half.
Wright has scored four times and provided three assists in the 35 league games he has played and his impact can not be understated.
Antoni Sarcevic and Bobby Pointon are two crucial players in Bradford’s squad. Sarcevic missed a big chance early on in Saturday evening’s game whilst Pointon missed the game due to injury.
Between them, the duo have scored 21 times and have provided six assists helping the Bantams to pick up key points in the league.
It remains to be seen whether Pointon will make it back for Thursday’s clash and, if he does, he will likely be named on the bench.
Steven Schumacher, too, made a big decision for the first leg with Sam Dalby coming off the bench in the second half to return from his injury.
Dalby has scored eleven times this season whilst providing five assists, making him one of Bolton’s biggest threat.
The duo of Cozier-Duberry and Ibrahim Cissoko is also crucial in Bolton’s set-up.
Cissoko has two goal involvements in his last two games and has come into his best form for the late stages of the season.
Cozier-Duberry, on the other hand, has been one of Wanderers’ best players this season, scoring eight times and providing ten assists.
Conceding 51 (Bradford City) and 52 (Bolton Wanderers) goals in the league this season makes these two sides arguably pretty equal when it comes to defensive work.
But, Bradford have not kept a clean sheet in their last seven games whilst Bolton’s clean sheet in the first leg is their first in nine attempts.
It is very likely that there will be goals in the second leg, quite possibly from both sides.
