Miserly Bolton prepare for Sporting

Low-scoring Bolton Wanderers FC have proved they can make a few goals go a long way as they host Sporting Clube de Portugal in the UEFA Cup Round of 16.

• Bolton have proved every bit as obdurate under Gary Megson as they were under Sam Allardyce, who led them in their 2006/07 UEFA Cup campaign. They remain unbeaten at home in European competition, despite never having scored more than two goals in any of their 16 European games.

• Megson, a defensive midfielder, spent the best years of his career with Sheffield Wednesday FC and Norwich City FC while also representing the likes of Everton FC, Newcastle United FC and Manchester City FC. He left Leicester City FC after just 41 days in charge to become Bolton manager in October, replacing Sammy Lee.

• Having scored just 17 goals in their 16 UEFA club competition games to date, Bolton average barely a goal a game, and have never won – or lost – a European game by a margin of more than one goal.

• Nine of those 17 European games have ended in draws, six 1-1s, two 0-0s and a solitary 2-2. They have lost only once, 2-1 at Olympique de Marseille to bow out of the Round of 32 in 2005/06.

• Sporting coach Paulo Bento may have fond memories of English opposition having played in Portugal's 3-2 win against England at UEFA EURO 2000™ during his days as a defensive midfielder.

• Bento, now 38, joined Sporting as a player in 2000 and started coaching the club's youth team after his retirement in 2004. He replaced José Peseiro as Sporting coach in 2005. He won the league title with the club as a player in 2001/02 and then took the Portuguese Cup as coach in 2006/07.

• Bolton and Sporting have never met in Europe, but that is no great surprise since this is only the English side's second season in UEFA competition.

• Bolton have come up against Portuguese opponents in both of their UEFA Cup campaigns, and both times they finished 1-1 in the group stage – away to Vitória SC in 2005/06 and home to SC Braga in this season's competition.

• Portuguese forward Ricardo Vaz Té scored Bolton's goal in the former game with El Hadji Diouf registering in the latter.

• While the two clubs have never met, Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen was up against a couple of Sporting players relatively recently, as his Finland side met Portugal twice in UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying, drawing 1-1 in Helsinki and 0-0 in Porto.

• Jääskelainen and Sporting's João Moutinho were on opposite sides in Helsinki, while the goalkeeper faced Sporting's Miguel Veloso in the second game.

• Bolton's Spanish midfielder Iván Campo came up against Sporting twice as a Real Madrid CF player in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League group stage. The Merengues drew 2-2 in Lisbon and won 4-0 in the return fixture in Madrid.

• Sporting have played 13 games against English sides, winning six, drawing two and losing five. In England itself, their seven games have ended in two wins, a draw and four defeats.

• Perhaps their most noteworthy meeting with an English side was their first as they lost 4-1 at Manchester United FC in the first leg of a 1963/64 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final but turned things around at home, winning 5-0 with Osvaldo Silva scoring a hat-trick.

• They went on to win the competition that season, beating MTK Budapest 4-3 on aggregate to claim their only major European trophy to date.

• Sporting also beat both Middlesbrough FC and Newcastle United FC on the way to reaching the 2004/05 UEFA Cup final, which they lost 3-1 to PFC CSA Moskva at their own José Alvalade Stadium.

• Lisbon-born Portuguese Under-21 international Vaz Té remains on the books at Bolton although he has yet to play in this season's UEFA Cup.

• Sporting's Anderson Polga and Abel are within a booking of a one-match ban, as are Bolton's Gérald Cid, Kevin Davies, Nicholas Hunt and Gavin McCann. El Hadji Diouf is serving a one-match suspension.

• Bolton finished third in Group F to reach the Round of 32 and then beat Club Atlético de Madrid 1-0 on aggregate. Sporting parachuted into the Round of 32 after finishing third in their UEFA Champions League group, and then beat FC Basel 1893 5-0 on aggregate.

• The second leg will be played in Lisbon on 13 March. The draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the UEFA Cup will be held at UEFA HQ in Nyon on Friday 14 March at 12.00CET.