Wigan v Newcastle - Match Preview

Wednesday night will see us travel down to the DW stadium hoping to gain some momentum after Saturday's convincing four-nil win over Birmingham; our opposition being Wigan this time out.

Our opposition see themselves sat 23rd in the table after the weekend's one-nil defeat to Aston Villa, suggesting that to the naked eye, this should be a bit of a walk over, right? The most noticeable factor from Wigan’s recent form is that they appear to be struggling up top, having only scored eight times in their last 14 games.

Form wise, Wigan are coming into this game at home on the back of two defeats whereas the Toon come into this on the back of the hammering at the weekend, where goals could have been scored for fun. However. playing at home against the side top of the league, surely Wigan have to just go out on a limb and have a go at us and it should be expected for them to be in our faces right from the off, but hopefully Lascelles and Clark (who have been in superb form lately) should be able to handle anything they can throw at us.

My prediction for this game is a two-nil victory in our favour, as if they come at us, we can hit on the counter, something which we have proven we can do well this season and then with the attacking ability the likes of Gayle has, expect him to notch at least once. I’d expect the creativity from the midfield to be the important factor - if final balls can be played well, then creating chances should be no problem at all! With the likes of Shelvey controlling the midfield, he should play an influential role, as per usual.

Looking in the history books, we have clashed with this opposition 17 times, the bragging rights being split in the middle with 7 wins each, and then 3 draws making up the rest of the results.

Hopefully we can get the win to take us back to the summit of the table after Brighton's win against Blackburn and continue our charge this season. Hopefully, we can put on yet another convincing display, putting the results against Forest and Blackburn well and truly behind us.

For those not attending this game, it will be broadcasted live on Sky as part of their 10 in 10 scheme, with a 7:45 kick-off.

Predicted Starting XI (4-4-1-1): Darlow, Dummett, Lascelles, Clark, Yedlin, Shelvey, Hayden, Ritchie, Gouffran, Diame, Gayle.

Predicted Result: 0-2 Win