Tottenham Hotspur V Wigan Athletic

Kick-off: Sunday 22nd November – 15:00 GMT

Venue: The Reebok

Tottenham Hotspur

League Position: 4th

Recent Form: DWLLW

High flying Tottenham have been presented with a fabulous opportunity to bolster their already impressive point tally with a win over Wigan Athletic, at White Hart Lane. Tottenham’s early displays have put them in the frame for a possible top four invasion and for them at least, possession is nine tenths of the law as they currently cling onto that fourth Champions League position. However, with Spurs playing a day later then most, they could find themselves needed the win to regain fourth position if those in close proximity do the business elsewhere.

What others get up to shouldn’t concern Tottenham as providing they do what is required of them, they will regain fourth position regardless. However, it will be in the back of Harry Redknapp’s thoughts that Man City, a team currently just two points behind Tottenham in the table, have a game in hand over the London outfit so any slip ups from here on out could play into the hands of the Manchester side. It’s down to Harry Redknapp & Co. to avoid any such predicament and we feel he will dodge a curve ball with Wigan on Sunday with a victory. 

Tottenham have made a bright start to the season, although there are areas which still need improving. The defence is still a million miles off where it needs to be, although injuries to the likes of Johnathan Woodgate & Ledley King haven’t helped. Spurs have shipped 17 goals this season, far from ideal, but only six have been conceded at White Hart Lane, which is a big improvement on last season. What will give the defence and Brazilian goalkeeper a big boost was their clean sheet in their last home fixture against an attacking and adventurous Sunderland, of which Spurs spent the majority of the opening half on the back foot. We also mustn’t forget that Gomes, the Spurs goalie, did save a Darren Bent penalty so his confidence should be sky high, although, an international appearance for his country still looks minuscule due to his inconsistent nature, and the fact that he is just not a very good keeper.

At White Hart Lane this season, Spurs boast a record of 4-0-2, with the North Londoners yet to draw game at home thus far. The defeats came against Man Utd (1-3) & Stoke City (0-1), the latter especially disappointing, but on the whole Tottenham have been performing well at home and should continue in the same vein on Sunday, against a team they thumped 4-0 last term.

Wigan Athletic

League Position: 13th

Recent Form: LDWLD

Consistency is a major concern for Wigan manager, Roberto Martinez. On several occasions this season, Wigan have surprise almost ever football follower by overturning the odds to beat a vastly superior side. However, replicating those sorts of performances into games against weaker opponents has been a problem. The generalrule of thumb with Wigan this season is back them when they’ve gone a few games without a win and back against them when they do actually win one. 

Wigan have yet to win back-to-back games this season and after only managing a 1-1 draw in their last league outing against Fulham, ending 1-1, this won’t be possible on Sunday even if they do upset the favourite once again. However, their following fixture is a game with Sunderland at The DW, a game which is winnable, so perhaps a big performance at White Hart Lane could take them nicely into what will be a tricky yet winnable home match with Sunderland the following weekend.

Will Wigan beat Spurs on their own patch? – We can’t see it, unfortunately. At times, especially on the road, they have looked ordinary and often non existent. When things don’t go their way they tend to just capitulate, this was certainly the case against both Arsenal (4-0) & Man Utd (0-5), earlier on in the season. Now, Tottenham aren’t quite at the same level as the two we’ve just mentioned but they are closing the gap, steadily, and an early goal for Spurs could be curtains for Wigan. They have already conceded 13 away goal this season, four of those coming away at Portsmouth, a team rock-bottom of the league, so their habit of just packing up and sulking is apparent for all to see.

We’ve learnt this season that you can never completely write Wigan off and that Spurs are never a banker at home, so perhaps Wigan are no forlorn hope. However, they will need to improve immensely on some of their recent performances. They were absolutely woeful away at Portsmouth in the 4-0 drubbing, while they failed to assert themselves in the home game with Fulham just before the international break. If they do want to take at least a point home with them then they will need to attack a whole lot more, and with more pace. Hugo Rodallega should aid them in this as his pace and strength has enabled him to top Wigan goalscoring chart with five goals, three more than anyone else in the Wigan squad.

Head-to-Head (Last 8):

Tottenham Hotspur W: 3 Wigan Athletic W: 1 Draws: 4

Previous meetings have been very tight affairs with Wigan actually managing a point at White Hart Lane last season, although, Spurs were rocking at the time. The two season before that, however, both went the way of the home side, and in a comprehensive manner. Tottenham beat the Latics 4-0 in the 2007/2008 campaign while they won 3-1 the season before.

Wigan did beat Spurs last season, that being a narrow 1-0 success at The JJB, now known as the DW stadium. However, that is their only success to date in the Premiership over the North London club after winning just one of right previous meetings.

Match Verdict:- Tottenham Hotspur to WIN – 1.50 Ladbrokes

After two games without a win, Wigan are probably well overdue a win and shock one at that. However, Spurs are by far the best team of the two in terms of overall quality within the respective camps and they should be fairly comfortable back at White Hart Lane, especially after beating a decent and improving Sunderland outfit at home just before the two week break. We aren’t too sure if Spurs are worth their ½ price tag but we always give our prediction based solely on who we think will win, and that’s Tottenham on this occasion.

Match Odds:

Tottenham Hotspur – 1.50 Ladbrokes

Draw – 4.30 VCbet

Wigan Athletic – 8.50 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Value Tip: Draw/Tottenham Hotspur (Half-Time/Full-Time Betting ) – 4.50 Ladbrokes

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Full-Time: Tottenham Hotspur 9-1 Wigan Athletic

Goalscorer(s): Peter Crouch, Jermaine Defoe X5, Aaron Lennon, Niko Kranjcar, Chris Kirkland O.G. (Tottenham Hotspur), Paul Scharner (Wigan Athletic)