English Premier
2012-04-11 - Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Wednesday 11 April 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
Wigan Athletic
It was a controversial game at Stamford Bridge that saw Wigan Athletic lose 2-1 as both Chelsea goals looked to be remarkably offside. Roberto Martinez was understandably furious, especially with every point at this stage being so crucial, although he was pleased he received an apology from Mike Riley, the head of the referees.
Wigan are 19th in the Premier League table, but their 28 points means they are only in the relegation zone due to their inferior goal difference compared with Blackburn Rovers and QPR. They have struggled at home where they are 2-7-7 this season, scoring 14 goals and conceding 25.
The team have begun to pick up results at just the right time of the season and they were unbeaten in 4 Premier League games before the shocking officials ruined their run at Stamford Bridge. Wigan had picked up back to back League wins before the loss at Chelsea and they are playing very well. They had failed to win any of 13 home League games before beating Stoke City here last time out.
Hugo Rodallega looks set to miss out again, but Victor Moses looks like he will recover from an injury suffered at the weekend.
Manchester United
Manchester United just seem to get into gear at the right time of the season and they will be going for their 5th Premier League title in the last 6 seasons if they can complete their task this season. Sir Alex Ferguson will not allow his team to think the title is already won, despite their big advantage, and he will be urging them to win their next 3 games before the Manchester Derby.
The team moved 8 points clear of City in the table with a 2-0 win over QPR on Sunday, and remained in that position once their rivals lost 1-0 at Arsenal. United have a 12-3-1 away record this season, just a season after finishing with just 5 away wins, and they have scored 36 goals and conceded 12 in those games. It is no surprise that United lead the away wins, away goals scored and away goals conceded categories so far this season.
Europe was a major disappointment for everyone connected with the club, but they keep chugging along in the League, winning their last 8 League games in a row, and also 11 of their last 12 since back to back defeats against Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. They have won 4 games in a row away from home in the League, and they have scored at least 2 goals in each of their last 6 away games.
It has been suggested that Sir Alex Ferguson will make some changes to his starting line up with the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes possibly being left out of the team. Rafael suffered a slight knock in the win over QPR, while the likes of Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley pushing for starts. Nani should also be back in the squad after recovering from injury.
Head to Head
Manchester United have won all 14 games they have played against Wigan Athletic in all competitions, 13 of those taking place in the Premier League.
They beat Wigan 5-0 at Old Trafford earlier this season, although the nature of that game changed significantly when the away side were controversially reduced to ten men.
United have won their last two games at the DW Stadium by scoring 9 goals and keeping a couple of clean sheets.
Prediction
Manchester United have a fantastic record at the DW Stadium, and against Wigan Athletic in general, but this will not be an easy game for them to pass.
The home side have really been playing well in recent games and they look set to perhaps perform another miracle escape when most had expected them to drop into the Championship. Roberto Martinez will get his side to play football and I expect them to have a real go at United here and testing them fully, especially if there are a few changes made to the United team.
Sir Alex Ferguson will still expect his side to perform up to the standards they have set in recent games and he will be confident they can grab a couple of goals here that should set them up to pick up another three points on their march to the title.
I do expect United to win, but I have a lot of respect as to how Wigan are playing in recent games and I am sure it will be a tougher game than the 1.40 odds indicate for the away side.
Instead of taking my chances with the handicap markets and so forth, I am going to take the bigger price of picking Wayne Rooney to open the scoring at 4.50 at various places.
Rooney has actually been the opening scorer for United in 4 of their last 6 Premier League games, although only managing to do that in 1 of their last 8 away games in the League.
However, he has also scored the first goal in 3 of the last 5 games he has started against Wigan and it looks as good as any angle in this game.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Wigan Athletic 0-2 Manchester United
