The Voice - Match preview League One Playoff Semi-Final: Bolton Wanderers vs Bradford City Saturday 9th May 2026 8:00pm

EFL League One Play-Off Semi Final First Leg
Saturday 9th May 2026 20:00
Bolton Wanderers (5th) vs Bradford City (4th)
Toughsheet Community Stadium

Record:
Games Won: 15
Games Drawn: 20
Games Lost: 19

Last 5:
27 Oct 2020: Bolton Wanderers 1 – 0 Bradford City
06 Mar 2021: Bradford City 1 – 1 Bolton Wanderers
22 Nov 2025: Bolton Wanderers 0 – 0 Bradford City
02 Dec 2025: Bolton Wanderers 3 – 0 Bradford City [EFL Trophy]
25 Apr 2026: Bradford city 1 – 1 Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers:
Bolton Wanderers limped across the finish line in 5th place, just 1 point above 7th place Luton Town, a side that defeated them 3-2 on the final day – albeit to no avail. The Hatters lost out on the playoffs courtesy of a 90th minute winner for Stevenage at home to Wigan Athletic, with Stevenage rounding off the playoff picture after Stockport County and Bradford City had also consolidated their top 6 stance win final day victors against Barnsley (3-1) and Exeter City (2-1) respectively.

In truth, though, Bolton Wanderers were the only side in the top 6 to have made absolutely certain of a playoff spot heading into the final day of the season, perhaps taking some of the edge off a narrow defeat to a side that could have been a playoff rival… but whom ultimately hadn’t quite done enough this campaign. Still, with just 2 wins in their final 10 league fixtures, Bolton Wanderers have ended the season on a run of form that might have created some cause for concern about the fanbase ahead of the all-important playoff campaign.

Chief among Bolton’s potential consternations will be their away form. Having won only 1 of their last 5 away games, Bolton Wanderers found themselves beaten by sides at opposite ends of the table in Cardiff City (2-0) and Port Vale (1-0), as well as also falling to only their second home defeat of the season in that aforementioned tie against Luton Town. That said, Bolton Wanderers did finish 5th in the ‘Home’ league table, as well as 7th in the ‘Away’ league table, neither being particularly disastrous, and with other select statistics underlining their favouritism with the bookmakers.

Yes, Bolton Wanderers stand as the frontrunners in the betting markets with a 15/8 price tag for promotion, while Stockport County (9/4) are second favourites. For their part, Bradford City are seen as having a 15/4 chance, leaving Stevenage as the outsiders at 5/1. Chief among the reasons, among others, that Bolton Wanderers are fancied will be their standing in the xG table. Sat top of the xG table, Bolton Wanderers have pipped newly-minted Championship outfit Cardiff City to the number 1 spot with an xG of 1.82 goals-per-game. Cardiff City fell just short with 1.81, with Bradford City further back in 7th place with an xG of 1.49.

In terms of actual goals scored, Bolton Wanderers weren’t able to quite match their expected output, finishing 6th highest goalscorers in the division averaging 1.52 goals per game. Again though, compare that with Bradford City, who finished in 14th place averaging 1.26 goals per game, and it’s abundantly clear that Bolton Wanderers will be hoping to overwhelm the Bantams’ back line with their superior firepower. That said, Bolton Wanderers weren’t able to beat City either home or away in the league this season, although they did hammer them 3-0 in the EFL Trophy, for what that’s worth.

In terms of possession, Bolton Wanderers finished 2nd overall in the League One table, behind only Cardiff City, outlining the considerable similarities between the two teams’ performances this season. While Lincoln City ultimately ran out deserved League One champions with a whopping 103 points, it was Cardiff and Bolton that ticked more of the traditional statistical indicators of a good season, and Bolton Wanderers’ fans will be hoping they can rediscover their considerable threat in front of goal while also continuing to match Bradford City in terms of defensive outcomes, more or less

Bolton Wanderers did concede 1 goal more than the Bantams, their 3-2 home defeat to Luton allowing City to leapfrog them on this particular metric – as well as the final league standing – on the last game of the regular season.

Bolton Wanderers 2 – 3 Luton Town


Bradford City 1 – 1 Bolton Wanderers


Bradford City:
Bradford City ended the season with victory at Exeter City, bringing a run 4 game winless to an end, and consigning their Devon-based opponents to League Two next campaign. Job done for City, then, but the focus immediately shifts to a huge playoff semi-final against one of the most dangerous sides in League One.

Having finished above Bolton Wanderers by 1 point, City will enjoy the (potential) benefit of playing their home game second, meaning they will head to the Toughsheet Stadium on Saturday evening at 8pm before hosting their opponents at Valley Parade the following Thursday – also at 8pm. Both sides will be expecting sold out stadiums for these high stakes playoff semifinal fixtures, two games that will ultimately decide which club will compete at Wembley Stadium for the chance to become a Championship side once again. For Bolton Wanderers, it has now been 7 full seasons since they last played in England’s second tier, following their relegation in 2018/19, while for the Bantams it has been a whopping 22 seasons, City having last played at that level when it was still called the First Division in 2003/04. The competition was renamed the Championship the following year in 2004/05.

There will still be the matter of facing off against the winner of the other semifinal, of course, a pair of games to be contested between Stockport County and Stevenage. Bradford City ended the season reasonably well, despite their recent winless run, tasting defeat just once in their last 7 outings. The Bantams finished up as the third best ‘Home’ team this campaign, with only the 2 automatically promoted sides in Lincoln City and Cardiff City ahead of them, and with Stevenage (4th) right behind them. For their part, Bolton Wanderers (5th) were 3 points adrift of City’s total tally. That said, Bradford City did ultimately lose more home games (3) than either Stevenage (2) or Bolton (2), although they also won more games on home soil – City winning 15 times at Valley Parade, compared to Stevenage’s 14 home wins, and Bolton’s 13.

Away from home, there was little to separate Bolton and Bradford, with Bolton finishing 7th in the Away league table leaving Bradford City a point behind in 8th – again, though, Bradford City won more games (7) than Bolton (6) on the road, despite losing more as well: City endured 10 defeats on the road to Bolton’s 7. A propensity to draw so many games, ultimately, appears to have cost Bolton Wanderers a shot at automatic promotion.

In a boost for City going forward, Bobby Pointon is edging ever closer to a return, although Graham Alexander said Saturday might come too soon. For the trip to the Toughsheet Stadium, City may instead continue to rely on the timeless Antoni Sarcevic, himself a Trotter between 2020-22, and the resurgent George Lapslie, who has at last nailed down a regular first team place – at least for now. A huge moment for Lapslie certainly wouldn’t go amiss as a potential date at Wembley looms.

Exeter City 1 – 2 Bradford City


Bradford City 1 – 1 Bolton Wanderers

 

Prediction:
Realistically, if either side is going to win ‘big’, it seems much more likely to be Bolton Wanderers. Bolton have shown a propensity to blow teams away this season, including during a recent 5-1 demolition job of 6th place Stevenage. The Boro will now no doubt hope to avoid the Trotters should they make it to Wembley, although some among their number may fancy a crack at revenge…

If Stevenage fans are cheering on anyone on this side of the draw, it could well be Bradford City – who, in turn, may prefer to meet Stockport County at Wembley, having beaten the ‘other’ Hatters both home and away this campaign. These permutations aside, Graham Alexander’s men know they have to be focussed and ready for a potentially fraught affair on the other side of the Lancashire-Yorkshire border. Bolton Wanderers haven’t beaten City in league action yet this campaign, but arguably shaded both fixtures, home and away.

Bradford City, to their credit, came back at Bolton in the recent 1-1 draw at the University of Bradford Stadium, Kayden Jackson grabbing an 80th minute equaliser after Celtic loanee Johnny Kenny had opened the scoring 8 minutes earlier. The stats suggest, as was probably predictable, that Bolton Wanderers were the side with most of the ball and creating the majority of chances – both on and off target. Johnny Kenny, for his part, looks a quality centre forward, and Bolton’s wing play was, at times, sublime. Amario Cozier-Duberry looked a real handful, as did Ibrahim Cissoko on the other wing. Cissoko, on loan from French outfit Toulouse, hasn’t had the same impact as 8-goal Cozier-Duberry, but has started to find some form with 2 goals in his last 3 outings.

Despite all the firepower available to Bolton, and that will be increased further with the expected return of second-top scorer Sam Dalby in midfield, Bolton has still found the Bradford City backline a tough nut to crack. Top scorer Mason Burstow is always a live threat, but there is a sense that Kenny has stolen at least a little bit of Hull loanee Burstow’s thunder.

Bradford City, simply put, cannot match Bolton’s firepower. They haven’t matched it in terms of xG, they haven’t matched in terms of actual output, and they while they hardly lack an attacking threat, will also most likely be without one of their top scorers and joint Player of the Season Bobby Pointon. That all makes for worrying reading, but Bradford City have shown real resilience this season, and have avoided being outclassed by all-but-Lincoln City, the division’s runaway champions.

I don’t see any reason to think Bolton will hammer City here, but I still think this is going to be a very, very difficult night for the Bantams – and, at times, a tough watch for those both in the stadium and watching at home. I think Bolton could edge this one – but Bradford City have shown an ability to dig in this season, and fight back where necessary.

My prediction will be a 2-1 defeat for City, with Bolton perhaps racing into an early lead, and at times looking like overwhelming the Bantams – without actually doing so. If City can come away with a very narrow defeat (or something better!) then I think they will have every chance of turning it round a week on Thursday. Don’t despair, I do not for a minute think this semi-final will be over on Saturday evening – but I do think City will have to ride their luck a little bit against a very good side on their own turf.

After that, the shoe will be on the other foot at Valley Parade, and City will have to make home advantage count!

Besides, City have lost the first leg a couple of times before and still done quite well, haven’t they?

Final Score:
Bolton Wanderers 2 – 1 Bradford City