English Premier League – Match Preview: Newcastle United versus Wigan Athletic
Newcastle United are set to take on Wigan Athletic in their eighth league game of the English Premier League season on 16th of October, 2010.
The Magpies will be looking to bounce back with this match as their recent form in the league campaign has been woeful to say the least.
Wigan on the other hand have been resurgent despite their slow start to the season, in their last match Wigan disposed off a competitive Wolverhampton Wanderers side by winning the match in an emphatic fashion by two goals to nil.
That win does not hide the fact that Roberto Martinez’s men have been pretty average in the 2010-2011 season and their lack of activity in the summer transfer window of 2010 has come to haunt them time and again in the past three months ever since the Premier
League season got under way.
Currently, 14th in the English Premier League table, Wigan have slowly and steadily made their move up the rankings after losing their opening day encounter against Blackpool by four goals to nil.
Out of their last five matches, Wigan have won two, drawn two and lost only one match. After losing to Blackpool at the start of the season, Wigan played their second match of the English Premier League season against Chelsea at the DW Stadium.
Roberto Martinez would have hopped that his team would be able to contain the likes of Drobga and Malouda but Chelsea took no prisoners as they capitalized on Wigan’s defensive frailties by shipping six goals past the despairing Chris Kirkland.
After the humiliation that was suffered at the hands of the Blues, Wigan were underdogs as they took on Tottenham in their third league match of the season but almost miraculously, Wigan inflicted a one goal defeat on Harry Redknapp’s team at the White
Hart Lane.
In their fourth match of the league season, Wigan successfully managed to hold Sunderland to a one all draw at the DW Stadium, this draw was followed up by a two goal defeat to Manchester City. In their sixth match of the Premier League season, Wigan drew
against Birmingham before gaining a vital win over Wolves in their latest match of 2010-2011 season.
Alternatively, Newcastle kicked off their promotion to the Premier League with a trip to Old Trafford against Manchester United. United go easy on the new boys as Darren Fletcher and co. scored a comprehensive three goal victory over the Magpies.
After the defeat at Old Trafford, the Magpies hosted Aston Villa at Saint James’s Park in what has been their most memorable match of the season so far. Newcastle totally dominated the encounter against Aston Villa as their star striker Andy Carroll scored
a hat-trick to fire his team to a six goal win over the Villains.
Following this big win over Aston Villa, Newcastle went onto draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers before losing by two goals to Blackpool at the Saint James’s Park.
This loss to Ian Holloway’s men was succeeded by an away win against Everton at the Goodison Park. In their sixth match of the season Newcastle United lost out to Stoke City at the Saint James’s Park yet again.
In their last league match, which took place before the two week international break, Newcastle lost to Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium by two goals to one. Newcastle’s biggest worry going into their encounter against Wigan is the fact
that their main target man Andy Carroll is out of form. Carroll has not scored in his last four league matches and without him on the score sheet, Newcastle rarely secure a win.
For Wigan, Roberto Martinez will be looking towards Charles N’Zogbia and Hugo Rodallega to keep up their steadily improving performances.
Despite the fact that the match is taking place at the Saint James’s Park, Wigan are expected to at least come away with a draw from the Tyneside.
Tags: