Fulham V Wigan Athletic Betting: Sunday, 4th April

Fulham V Wigan Athletic

Sunday, 4^th April – 15:00 GMT

Fulham

League Position: 9th

Recent Form: WDLLD
 

Roy Hodgeson sent out a warning to all us backers last Saturday, that Fulham were no longer a team to follow. Hodgeson is a manager held in high regard in all quarters of Europe, while he’s performed absolute wonders with Fulham in his two year tenure at the club, guiding Fulham back into European football. However, Fulham’s European commitments are now beginning to take over the clubs priorities, especially now that top flight football is secured for next season. It’s pretty clear that the board have given Hodgeson the all clear to no longer prioritise attaining a decent league position and that the Europa League is where their intentions now lye.

On Saturday in that 2-0 loss to Hull City, Fulham rested five first team players ahead of their clash with German champions Wolfsburg on Thursday night. It was a European encounter, a quarter-final clash in fact, so it was understandable that Hodgeson wanted to rest a handful of his players ahead of such an important game for the club. Arguably the most important game for years. However, the Premiership season is far from over and Hodgeson’s desire to rest some of his key players has already had a big influence on the league table, with Fulham now slowly sliding down the table after three defeats on the bounce, while their loss to Hull City at the weekend meant Hull reduced the gap between them and safety.

With every game that Hodgeson doesn’t necessarily care 100% about, it’s massively affecting results elsewhere and his actions on Saturday have already been met with controversy, especially by West Ham who believe Fulham’s actions to leave some players out shown a lack of morales and commitment to their league duties. We wouldn’t disagree with those comments as Fulham basically gave three points away on Saturday by not fielding the strongest possible eleven and it does beg the question as to whether or not Hodgeson will do the same every time Fulham either have an upcoming European fixture of straight after a gruelling European game. If so, we see little point in backing the Cottagers from here on out, and we won’t.

We have no idea how Fulham got on in midweek, nor do we care as we’re opposing the Cottagers on their own turf, which takes some doing considering they’ve been pretty formidable at home in the league. Roy Hodgeson has seen his side fall to just four home defeats this season, of which none were against teams in the lower half of the table. They were, however, the losing party in their very last home encounter in the Premier League when losing 2-1 to Manchester City. It was a team Wigan lost 3-0 to a little less than a week ago but it was also a game where Wigan had opportunities themselves to win, or at least go ahead, so Wigan have proved recently that they can produce a big display away from home and that Fulham need to be careful ahead of their weekend clash with the Latics.

Wigan Athletic

League Position: 16th

Recent Form: WLLWL

After losing in somewhat unfortunate circumstances on Monday, Roberto Martinez takes his Wigan troops to Craven Cottage to take on a Fulham side who despite boasting a strong home record could be there for the taking considering the Cottagers were involved in European action just three days previous. By that time Wigan will have recuperated and mentally recovered from their 3-0 loss at Man City, although there’s little they can do about Gary Caldwell’s absence as he begins his three match suspension after harshly receiving a straight red card at The City of Manchester Stadium on Monday night.

It was a tough night of football for Martinez to take as his Wigan players put in a valiant shift in Manchester, working tremendously hard not only to frustrate their Northern opponents but to also carven out several openings. In fact, before that controversial sending off of defender Gary Caldwell, whom will miss the trip to Fulham, Wigan were enjoying the better of the chances and could, perhaps even should have gone ahead. The dismissal of Caldwell was a changing point and it wasn’t until this point when City finally exerted some genuine pressure on a Wigan defence which had earlier stood firm resolutely. The final score of 3-0 will have been a bitter pill for everyone at the club to take as Wigan’s overall performance merited at least a share of the spoils, but they mist move on and fast if they are to avoid dropping into another lull.

It is easy to forget that Wigan Athletic aren’t quite out of the woods yet. Far from it in fact. The 3-0 loss in Manchester now means Wigan are once again starring down the relegation barrel, although a four point cushion between them and Hull City in 18^th is enough for now to allow the Wigan players to breathe a little easy and not become too bogged down with pressure. That could all change though with their second successive defeat should they encounter one at Craven Cottage on Sunday. If result did go against them and those below them in the table won, Wigan could see their healthy four point cushion diminish into a nervy one point gap.

We must admit, with Wigan’s form in 2010 littered with defeats we thought they would get played off the park at Man City but that was far from the case. They were calm and collective when in possession, resolute at the back and surprisingly adventurous in the final third of the pitch. While they didn’t really have anything clear cut, they did manufacture some decent half-chances which might have hit the net on another day. Should they emulate that display at Craven Cottage then those half-chances could be converted and Wigan fans could be celebrating just their fourth win of the season.

Interesting Fact: Wigan Athletic have lost their last three away league games, all of which were without Wigan scoring. Their last away goal came at Sunderland four outings ago meaning Wigan are without an away goal in 290 minutes of play.

Match Verdict: Wigan athletic to WIN – 4.10 Expekt

With just a couple of days to recover after what will surely have been a tough and gruelling encounter with Wolfsburg in the Europa League, Fulham might fill the after affects against Wigan on Sunday, especially in the latter stages of the clash. Fulham will need a bright start in order to avoid any late scares. Should Wigan still be involved come the hour mark then you would fancy the Latics’ chances. It’s a difficult mathc to size up as Fulham are the better team on paper and do have a strong record at home this season, but their European commitments are beginning to get in the way and after a long season, Fulham could soon start showing some stamina scars. Good chance here for Wigan, golden if you like, and we feel they’re worthy of a small back at very generous odds.

Match Odds:

Fulham – 2.05 VCbet

Draw – 3.40 Boylesports

Wigan Athletic – 4.1 Expekt

SoccerBetting Value Tip: 0-0 Correct Score – 10.00 Bet365