Friday, April 29, 2011

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30.04. (Sat) 16:00 Wigan Athletic - Everton



DID YOU KNOW?

* These two sides have only met 12 times in their history and all bar one FA Cup tie in 1980 have taken place after 2005, when Wigan Athletic were promoted to the Premier League.

* The Latics have failed to beat any of the top seven at home this season. They have, however, drawn three of those games, scoring just three goals whilst conceding 15.

* Roberto Martinez's men have the second worst home goal scoring record in the Premier League this season, averaging at just 1.06 goals-per-game at home. They have failed to score in 35 per cent of their matches at the DW Stadium.

* Everton have won four and drawn seven of their 17 away fixtures, but they are goal shy - scoring only 19 whilst conceding 20.

* David Moyes has seen his side dominate the league fixtures against Wigan with six wins, while the Latics have only triumphed twice.

* Everton are also unbeaten in the last four meetings between the two sides and have conceded only once in those four games.

* The Toffees' recent form has seen them lose just twice in their last ten matches, which has lifted them up to seventh position in the table. They are five points behind their fierce rivals Liverpool in sixth. But more importantly, they are trying to stave off the threat of Bolton Wanderers, who are just a point behind them with a game in hand.

* Jermaine Beckford (pictured right) has scored seven league goals his season, three of which were away from home. The Toffees average just 1.12 goals-per-game on their travels this season.

PROBABLE LINE-UPS

Wigan Athletic (4-3-2-1)
Al Habsi; Boyce, Caldwell, Alcaraz, Figueroa; Watson, Diame, McCarthy; N’Zogbia, Cleverley; Rodallega.

Roberto Martinez has a full strength squad to choose from, after full-back Maynor Figueroa completed the final game of his three-match suspension against Sunderland.

Everton (4-4-1-1)
Howard; Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; Coleman, Neville, Rodwell, Osman; Cahill; Beckford.

David Moyes has inspirational midfielder Tim Cahill available again after the Australian completed 45 minutes against Manchester United.

However, the Scot still has five players unavailable to him through injury. Mikel Arteta could return from his hamstring injury before the end of the season. John Heitinga and youngster Jose Baxter are, like Arteta, suffering with hamstring injuries whilst Louis Saha and Marouane Fellaini are unavailable with ankle problems.

Prediction
This is a massive game for Wigan in their fight against relegation and they need to avoid defeat to give them a chance of jumping out of the bottom three with just three games to go following this one.

Everton are battling for seventh position and would love to improve their away record with a win against the Latics. But their goal scoring record away from home does not instil confidence that this will happen.

Luckily for the Toffees, the home side have a goal scoring record that is even worse. So a slender away victory looks likely.

Wigan Athletic 1-2 Everton