Premier League Wednesday: Fulham Defeat Bolton 3-0

It’s been a fairly even first half between Fulham and Bolton, with the home side having the slightly better of the play, but Bolton started to look like the better team at the end of the half. The real separation between the two teams was the quality of Clint Dempsey, who hit a fantastic side-volley goal in the 15th minute, assisted by Chris Baird and following a corner kick. While Bolton have been solid, they’ve had no chances of that quality so far.

Bolton are not completely out of Europe and Fulham are not completely clear of relegation, so this isn’t necessarily a battle of two teams who will end in mid-table mediocrity. A draw or a Fulham win would probably resign both teams to that fate, but a comeback win by Bolton could suddenly make things very interesting for both teams down the stretch. If Fulham hold on to this result, they will sit on 42 points and likely be clear of the drop for good.

Both teams have had some disappointments lately, but neither Bolton or Fulham appears to be in danger of getting relegated, though Fulham are not totally out of the woods in that respect. Both teams find a very good balance between attacking play, organization, and physical play. They’re both very much the epitome of the new style of English football, and for that reason alone, their games against each other are worth watching.

Fulham lineup (4-5-1): Schwarzer; Salcedo, Hangeland, Hughes, Baird; Sidwell, Murphy, Dembele, Davies, Dempsey; Gudjohnsen

Wolves currently sit at the edge of the drop zone, and even a draw could do a lot to help them achieve safety in a year where the relegation race is so tight. They’ve been in the drop zone for most of the season, and a win could finally bring them out. Here are your lineups for today’s game.

Stoke City lineup (4-4-2): Begovic; Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson; Etherington, Whelan, Delap, Pennant; Jones, Walters

Even the most frustrated Arsenal fans will have to agree that it was an incredible end to a very good game.

At this point, results don’t matter a whole lot for Arsenal. They’re pretty much locked into a top three place, meaning they will automatically secure a spot in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League, and they also have almost no shot at the title. Still, if they’re unable to turn this result around, it’s probably going to sting.

But Blackpool, as ever, would come storming back. equalising - just about - through DJ Campbell, who put the lightest of touches on a corner to guide the ball over the line before Newcastle left back Jose Enrique could hack clear. From then on, Blackpool had the lions share of the chances but couldn’t crack the Magpies’ defence. Adam hit the post in probably the best moment of the second half, but when the dust settled Ian Holloway’s men had only managed to earn a point, good enough to see them to 17th place but not enough for anything approaching safety.

Tottenham failed to heed the warnings - although to be fair they were busy trying to get the next goal themselves - and Simon Cox stepped in to remind them that they should be paying him more attention, cutting inside to send in a peach of a right foot curler past a helpless Heurelhio Gomes and into the top corner. That’s a marvelous strike, but Spurs have all of five minutes to get their Champions League ambitions back on track now.

Back to square one then. Both teams are doing a good job committing players forward so far in this half, so it’s difficult to see the match ending at 1-1, but it’s hard to say just who will come out ahead - Tottenham need this more, but West Brom are fairly well organised at the back and will be able to hit their hosts on the break more and more than longer it stays level. As I type that, Pavlyuchenko misses the target completely after Carson could only parry a shot into his path fifteen yards out. Should have been 2-1 Spurs there.

Here are the full lineups:

Everton lineup (4-5-1): Howard; Baines, Distin, Jagielka, Hibbert; Bilyaletdinov, Rodwell, Neville, Coleman, Osman; Beckford