EPL: Wigan Athletic V Sunderland – Saturday, 11th September

Wigan Athletic V Sunderland

Saturday, 11th September – 15:00 GMT

Wigan Athletic

League Position: 17th
League Form: LLW

The Latics turned the form book completely on its head when beating in form Tottenham Hotspur last time out. It was the perfect way to enter into an international break especially as Wigan’s start to the season had been so extremely poor, and manager Roberto Martinez, who genuinely believed his team would come good sooner rather than later, now believes his Wigan side will continue to grow and that their 1-0 win at White Hart Lane should be the catalyst needed to continuing growing into what is still a fairly fresh Premier League season.

Four of Wigan’s nine wins last season came by a 1-0 scoreline and on every single occasion it was Ecuadorian international Huge Rodellega which popped up with the winning goal, so with Wigan securing their first win of the season a fortnight ago at White Hart Lane by a familiar 1-0 scoreline, it was hardly surprising to see Rodellega once again at the heart of a memorable and fully deserved win at one of the toughest grounds to play at. Wigan’s main hitman, whom top scored for the club last season ten league goals, will once again lead the line on Saturday against Sunderland as Wigan attempt to win back-to-back games in the Premier League for the first time since March 2009.

Wigan’s record at the DW Stadium, formerly known as the JJB, against Sunderland is actually impressive, having never been beaten by the Black Cats in four home encounters recording three wins and a draw. An interesting trend is that whenever Wigan have beaten Sunderland it has always been without conceding, but it is keeping clean sheets which Wigan have found so difficult recently. That did all change at White Hart Lane though, so perhaps the Latics have turned a corner as Martinez claimed.

Goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi looks set to retain the gloves after impressing against Tottenham two weeks ago, especially as Chris Kirkland is nursing a hip injury which initially kept him out of the Spurs game. However, the introduction of the Oman international did inspire the Wigan players somehow as their defence was far more organised than it was previously in matches with Blackpool & Chelsea, where they conceded 4 and 6 goals respectively. Gary Caldwell and Victor Moses however remain sidelined and won’t be at Martinez’s disposal for Saturday’s clash.

Sunderland

League Position: 10th
League Form: DLW

A little like Wigan Athletic, Sunderland defied the sizeable odds when recording a pulsating win over the world’s richest football club, Manchester City. They had to ride their luck on occasions, with Belgian shots-topped Simon Mignolet particularly fortunate in the Sunderland goal, but when you have the wise and confident head of Darren Bent strutting his stuff up front, you’re always going to win games here and there and that is exactly what he and Sunderland did a fortnight ago, with Bent’s injury time spot-kick sealing three vital points and the team’s first win of the season.

One of Sunderland’s biggest flaws last season was their inadequacies on the road, recording just two league wins away from home throughout the whole of last season, with their only win on the road in 2012 coming against relegated Hull City. And they haven’t begun their away campaign this season much better either, losing first time out at West Brom 1-0. If ever their was a fixture Steve Bruce would have fancied his side to win, certainly away from home, it was that trip to the Hawthorns as winnable games away from home this season are likely to be few and far between.

As we said before, the Black Cats needed some rub of the green to record a pretty impressive win over Manchester City, but it was the class of Darren Bent which shone through once again and Bruce is pinning his hopes on Bent continuing his fine vein of form in front of goal when his side make the short trip down to Greater Manchester to take on a Wigan side on the verge of recording back-to-back league wins for the first time in well over a year, which just about sums up how golden an opportunity this is for Sunderland to register an early away win and perhaps escape a season-long away voodoo. However, their record at the DW Stadium in recent years isn’t good and they’ll need to end a run of four games without a win at Wigan if they’re to come away with all the spoils.

The bad news from Sunderland’s win over Man City was that of Fraizer Campbell, who will now miss the majority of the season following knee ligament damage. Fortunately, Steve Bruce has the resources to bring in a late forward reinforcement, although, for the price Bruce paid for him, a lot is now expected from the supposedly £13-Million rated Ghanian forward Asamoah Gyan. The African star is set to start at the DW Stadium alongside Bent, although Bruce is sweating on defensive duo George McCartney and John Mensah. Craig Gordon is nearing a return but won’t make the trip to Wigan.

Match Prediction: Sunderland to WIN – 3.30 SkyBet

Wigan were superb at White Hart Lane last time out but the break arguably came at the worst possible time, although that doesn’t negate our quote as saying it was the perfect way to enter into the break. Nevertheless, a lot of the momentum and confidence gained from that win will have been lost and it’s now a big ask from the Latics to put in a repeat display.

Sunderland won’t have a better opportunity to win away from home than on Saturday against a team notable for squandering decent opportunities to register successive league wins. With new signing Gyan looking to make a quick impression and Bent still proving he’s a high-class Premier League striker with plenty of goals still left in him, we feel Sunderland will notch up their first away win in the Premiership this season, just their second of the year.

Soccer-Betting Value Tip: Asamoah Gyan First Goalscorer – 8.00 VCBet

Match Odds:

Wigan Athletic – 2.50 Coral
Draw – 3.30 Ladbrokes
Sunderland – 3.00 SkyBet