Salford have certainly proved that there are not to be taken lightly in knockout football this season, but a seven-game run without a clean sheet is an unwelcome statistic before a trip to the holders.
International call-ups will force Evatt into a few alterations, and Bolton may have lost their way a tad over the past couple of weeks, but they should still commence the defence of their title with a maximum.
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Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bolton Wanderers win with a probability of 47.85%. A win for Salford City had a probability of 28.45% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bolton Wanderers win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.44%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.62%) and 2-0 (7.4%). The likeliest Salford City win was 1-2 (7%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.98%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 4.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Bolton Wanderers would win this match.
-0.98) 
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