Sunderland V Wigan Athletic Betting

Sunderland V Wigan Athletic

Date & Kick-Off: Saturday, 23 April 2011 – 15:00 (GMT)
Venue: Stadium of Light

Who’d be a manager? Quite a few in actual fact, although not too many would go to the ends of the earth and back to be Sunderland chief right now. So a spare a thought for Steve Bruce, who undoubtedly has the toughest job of all twenty managers in the Premier League as Sunderland boss, as his team continues to be ravaged by injuries.

I’m not sure if Wigan manager Roberto Martinez knows of such a thing as injuries. The Spaniard has had to deal with very few this season, and once again will have a full-strength squad to pick from for Saturday’s crucial game with severely depleted and out of form Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, with the suspended Maynor Figueroa the only absentee.

An impressive 3-1 victory away at Blackpool a week previous helped Wigan allay fears of relegation, with the Latics now looking up in 17th. Colombian forward Hugo Rodallega scored his 21st Premier League goal for the club and became Wigan’s most prolific scorer in the Premiership, while Wigan themselves will now set their sights on rewriting the record books, by recording back-to-back league wins for the first time since March 2009.

Before Wigan’s success story at Bloomfield Road, where they secured their first away win for seven games, they were rooted to the bottom of the table and were favourites for the drop. All of a sudden, after just one win, there’s a new found belief and sense of optimism around the club. So proof if ever it was needed that one win can make all the difference. I’m sure Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has been whispering similar sweet nothings into his players’ ears for weeks now, not that he’s had a single positive response.

It’s now nine matches without a win in the league for Sunderland, who have slid down the table at a dramatic rate of knots. Of more concern is the lack of goals being scored, mainly because Sunderland should have enough points on the board to be safe; 38 with five games left to register the two-points which would take them to that magical 40-point marker. Phil Bardsley, a full-back, is the only Sunderland play to have scored in nine hours of football, doing so from a free-kick.

Steve Bruce has placed some of the blame on Darren Bent and his decision to cut ties with the Wearsiders midway through the campaign, leaving Sunderland with only one fit recognised striker in Ghanian Asamoah Gyan. Fraizer Campbell won’t feature again for the club for a very long time while Danny Welbeck has also picked up another injury which is likely to rule him out of this weekend’s contest. But there’s no excuse for why the likes of Michael Turner, Jordan Henderson, Lee Cattermole and Gyan haven’t raised their game in Sunderland’s hour of need, or should I say nine hours of need judging by the staggering length of time upon which they’ve gone without a goal from open play.

Nevertheless, despite all the troubles and strife’s at the club, Sunderland go into their latest clash knowing one more win should just about do it in terms of avoiding what would be one of the most shocking relegation in Premiership history, having been something like 200/1 for the drop at Christmas.

Wigan, meanwhile, know they must approach all of their remaining fixtures in a must-win frame of mind, as they need all the points they can get at this crucial time of the season. They earned their own reprieve last weekend, however they’ll be back in the relegation doldrums soon enough if they fail once again to build on a win.

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Head-to-Head (Premier League)

Sunderland wins: 1
Draws: 3
Wigan wins: 5

Last 5 Seasons

2010/2011: Wigan 1-1 Sunderland
2009/2010: Sunderland 1-1 Wigan
2009/2010: Wigan 1-0 Sunderland
2008/2009: Sunderland 1-2 Wigan
2008/2009: Wigan 1-1 Sunderland
2007/2008: Sunderland 2-0 Wigan
2007/2008: Wigan 3-0 Sunderland

Streaks & Trends

Sunderland have mustered just one win from their nine Premiership meetings with Wigan, the Latics winning two and losing none of the previous five encounters.

Seven of the nine Premiership meetings have produced 2 goals or less, basically Under 2.5 goals.

Sunderland are currently enduring their worst ever run of form in the Premiership, the Black Cats registering a laughable one point from a possible 27 in a dismal spell which has seen them lose eight of their last nine.

The Black Cats have failed to locate the back of their opponent’s net in five of their last six matches and have shipped nine goals without replay away from home, with a little over six hours on the clock since Sunderland last scored on their travels.

Wigan have lost just one of their last four in the league, collecting a healthy seven points in that period.

No team has scored fewer goals this season than Wigan, who have plundered just 32 goals in 33 games.

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Betting Odds & Tips

Match Prediction: Wigan Athletic to WIN – 4.00 VictorChandler

It’s crazy to think that Sunderland could go down considering how comfortable they were at the midway point of the season. So comfortable that supporters weren’t given relegation the time of the day as qualifying for Europe was on their minds then. I don’t see them going down, which means they’ll pick up a couple of points from somewhere, though I wouldn’t necessarily bank on them collecting anything from Saturday’s encounter.

The Stadium of Light has been their one piece of solace, as it’s where they’ve at least scored in five of their last six matches. That said, they have lost their previous four encounters on Wearside, the most recent a bitterly disappointing and somewhat embarrassing 3-2 loss to West Brom, that despite taking the lead on two separate occasions – which just about sums up Sunderland’s year.

Wigan were very impressive at Blackpool last time out, putting in a clinical display which saw them capitalise on several mistakes from the home side. Sunderland’s performance have been riddled in errors for some time now, so Wigan will be licking their lips at the prospect of tackling inarguably the poorest team, form-wise, in the Premier League at this moment in time. So definite value in the visitors, and none whatsoever in Sunderland, who, remarkably, are just a shade of odds-against even though they’re facing a team they haven’t beaten in their previous five attempts.

Value Bet: Charles N’Zogbia to Score – 4.00 Coral

The little Frenchman can be a tricky customer out on the winger and scored twice at St James’ Park against Newcastle back in October, Sunderland’s arch local rivals. He was also on target when Wigan last beat Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, back in March 2009.

Match Odds:

Sunderland – 2.15 WilliamHill
Draw – 3.40 BetFred
Wigan Athletic – 4.00 VictorChandler

Sunderland V Wigan Athletic

Saturday, 6^th February – 15:00 GMT

Sunderland

League Position: 13th

Recent Form: DDLLD

This rut of theirs just keeps rumbling on and their run in the league without a win was extended on Monday night when all they could manage in front of their home fans, and the ESPN cameras, was a pathetic draw with Stoke City. We say pathetic as Sunderland’s performance that night was appalling. The task to change their fortunes is left with Steve Bruce, but even the genius himself is quoted, in as many words, in saying he feels like he’s chasing his own tail. It’s a riddle why Sunderland aren’t performing to the standards we all know they can play but perhaps a visit from Wigan is just what they need.

That statement above about Wigan being the perfect fixture for Sunderland is something we’ve been saying for just about every team that has paid Sunderland a visit at the Stadium of Light in recent weeks. Our stance on Sunderland at this moment of time is that surely a win is well overdue as Sunderland o have bags of quality and a big performance within them. We’ve seen this on more than one occasions already this season, with two of several highlights being their victories over Liverpool & Arsenal.

However, their season is rapidly being overshadowed by too many low points and failures, with their drab draw with Stoke City on Monday being one of many disappointments we could mention. That poor result was their tenth in a row, with Sunderland having now gone ten whole games without a league win. That’s a staggeringly poor run for a club which was being touted as outside European contenders just a couple of months ago. Injuries haven’t helped their cause but Steve Bruce hasn’t kept his players in line and the club is paying a heavy price with consistently poor results.

The only positive about Sunderland boring 0-0 draw on Monday was it extended their unbeaten home run to two games – which just goes to show how dull a season it’s turning out to be if two home draws is now a positive. The negative, and it’s a huge one, is this run without winning a game and the impact it’s having on their displays. Moreover, even home isn’t as homely as it once was, with The Black Cats not managing a win in front of their home fans since the 21^st November, five home fixtures ago. They have since succumbed to several disappointing draws to beatable opposition and there is nothing to say that Sunderland won’t disappoint us once again this Saturday in yet another winnable game.

Wigan Athletic

League Position: 14th

Recent Form: DLWLL

It’s ring the alarm at The DW as the Latics rapidly begin to lose their grip on their Premiership status after yet another league defeat over the weekend, losing 1-0 at home to Everton. That was Wigan’s second defeat on the spin, their third in four league games and it has sent them closer to the bottom three with Wigan’s position in the Premiership now a precarious one – Occupying 14^th position, just a point off Hull City in the relegation zone.

Roberto Martinez, who hasn’t had the best of spells in his first season as a Premiership manager, could do with some battling, combative individuals but we can’t see too many in the Wigan squad that will help him through this difficult spell. At the moment, Wigan look a team lost and one of the rocks. However, they do have this uncanny knack of pulling a big performance right out of the hat. However, with Wigan managing just one win in their last eight, they are well overdue such a display and one against a Sunderland side who are rocking could see them claim all the spoils in this contest.  

To best sum up just how inconsistent a side Wigan have been this season you just have to look at their amount of wins at home, and away from The DW. Home Record: 3-3-4, Away Record: 3-1-8. The big negative of course, is the amount of defeats they’ve suffered away from home, eight in all, but they’ve won just as many on the road as they have on the road which proves Wigan are a perfect example of Jekyll & Hyde in that you just don’t know what to expect from them… Wherever they end up

If we’re brutally honest, we couldn’t touch Wigan in the slightest. However, they do have the potential to produce a big display and on the same token they are a dangerous side to back against because of this trait. Also, the arrival of a potential star in Victor Moses from Crystal Palace could spark a revival from the Latic as the lad has bags of potential and will scare the living daylights out of even the leanest of Premiership defenders with his pace and trickery. If he can adapt quickly to the Premiership then Wigan could be onto a real winner with Moses.

Match Verdict: Sunderland to WIN – 2.10 PaddyPower

This will probably turn out to be another stupid selection as backing Sunderland will have left you homeless this season. However, surely… surely, a team as poor as Wigan can be should get dispatched on Saturday?! This Sunderland side are a puzzle but reality will hit home soon enough, as if it hasn’t already, that their easy fixtures are disappearing and a home fixture with Wigan certainly falls into that category. The Black Cats have the talent to end their abysmal run of form, especially in the final third, but the problem recently has been Sunderland’s lack of creativity, However, Wigan aren’t organised and don’t have the sort of discipline that Stoke had on Monday night and so Sunderland should carve out a few more openings.

Match Odds:

Sunderland – 2.10 PaddyPower

Draw – 3.40 SkyBet

Wigan Athletic – 3.50 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Value Pick: Draw/Sunderland (HT/FT Betting) – 5.00 Bet365