There are interesting mid-week fixtures for teams in the bottom half of the table. Some teams are bound to pick up very welcome points!
Tonight;
Sunderland v QPR
Aston Villa v Reading
Wednesday;
Southampton v Norwich
Stoke v Newcastle
Wigan face Manchester City. City have enough good players to produce two first teams. Injuries are little more than an inconvenience to them. Wigan, however, rely heavily on their first eleven.
Wigan's squad players - Gomez, Jones, Stam and Lopez - all played well on Saturday. But Maloney and Ramis went off, and there are doubts about Stam too. Wigan may be worryingly weak in defence. On the other hand, Di Santo and McArthur appear to be fit to play. We shall have to wait and see. But even a full-strength team shouldn't frighten City.
There are six league matches in December - with winnable games against QPR, Villa, Newcastle and Norwich. Perhaps Martinez will try to have his greatest resources available for those games.
Wigan have shown that they can take points off the top five teams. But they have to take points off the bottom five. I would sacrifice the points to City in return for a fully fit squad in December and three invaluable wins.
Wigan home to City
posted on 27/11/12
Wigan on their day are a match for most teams as long as they have their full strength side available, which it appears you have not for this game.
You are right, we should be way too strong even if you were at full strength.
I shouldn't really be saying this but i can only see a real convincing away win here.
I hope that statement doesn't come back to haunt me, as i remember only too well what you did to our dear neighbours last season.
Wigan will not be involved in the dogfight come next spring, i can see a comfortable finale for you.
posted on 29/11/12
Wigan put on a good performance against City. They matched them for most of the game but were second best in the end. Although they have upset all the other big teams, they have now gone six games without a goal against City.
Alcaraz, Caldwell and Ramis were all missing, so Wigan's defence had a vulnerable air. But City played without a big centre-forward, and Lopez tidied up neatly.
Stam was full of running on the wing and Gomez was busy in midfield, but lacked the spark he showed on Saturday.
Wigan more than matched City for an hour. Then Mancini switched to 3-4-3 and City found more space. Balotelli seized on a second rebound to score and Milner hammered in a shot from distance.
Wigan look ready to face the challenge that December brings. The return of the defenders, and McArthur in midfield, will help too. Eight points from six games would be a good return. A better home record would please the fans.