English Premier
2008-12-13 - Wigan Athletic vs Blackburn Rovers
A Sports Betting Pick by chappers
- English Premier League -
JJB Stadium
13th December 2008 KO 3pm
Wigan Athletic (11th EPL)
Played 16 with 19 points
I don’t know why but I didn’t expect Wigan to struggle as I quite like Steve Bruce as a manager and actually think that Newcastle could do a lot worse than make a move for him, should they ever sell the club. Anyway back to Wigan who I think are a team that should be sitting around mid table (which of course they are, but that doesn’t mean much at the moment as two defeats and you are in the bottom three). All the talk is that they may well lose Heskey in the January sales and if this does happen they will need to get as many points on the board as they can before he goes as I think he is an important part of the way the team plays and will of course be missed should he leave.
Like most team that are floating around the mid table position, Wigan have been a little bit inconsistent (then again who hasn’t been this season), and have a home record of 3-2-3 and this means that they have only won 37% of their home games in the league this season and this will have to be improved on if they want to move to a stable position in the league. There are now unbeaten in their last three home games since losing to Aston Villa 4-0 back in late October and have won their last two beating WBA 2-1 and Everton 1-0.
Overall this season Wigan have a record of 5-4-7 so again it's not hard to see why they are in the middle of the table and they have been on a decent enough run of late. Last weekend saw them lose 1-0 at Arsenal but previous to this they had gone five games without a loss, which included a win at Portsmouth along with the two home wins mentioned above. Wigan will be hoping to put the defeat at Arsenal behind and move further up the table with three points here.
Blackburn Rovers (19th EPL)
Played 16 with 13 points
Don’t ask me why but when Paul Ince became manager of Blackburn, I just thought of Dowie at Charlton and feared for them. Now I’m not saying that Ince is a bad manager but I just didn’t hold out much hope for him and thought that Blackburn would struggle all season and more than likely go down. Blackburn have some good players but I think that every so often a team is more suited to a manager than to the players (if you know what I mean) and Blackburn for me would miss Mark Hughes more than Mark Hughes would miss Blackburn.
While it has been a hard season so far for Rovers they have managed to pick up two away wins. However the last of these was at Newcastle in late September and the one previous to this was on the opening day when they beat Everton 3-2 so this gives them an 18% away win record this season and a overall away record of 2-2-4 which to be honest for a team second bottom of the league isn’t all that bad. They have lost the last two times they have played away from Ewood losing to Portsmouth (3-2) and Spurs (1-0).
Overall Blackburn have a record of 3-4-9 so it's not to hard to see where their problems lie at the moment and that is in front of their own fans as their home form is letting them down greatly at 1-2-5, so they will of course be looking at this away game as one they can get something out of and finally move out of the bottom three. However they have lost five games on the bounce in the league now and as such the pressure is piling on Ince to turn in around so the nerves will be with the players as they kick off.
Head 2 Head
Wigan have only managed to beat Blackburn one in their attempts in front of their own fans at the JJB and that was a 5-3 win last season. Previous to this Blackburn have won each time the two teams have met and this also includes 2-0 Carling cup victory back in 2002.
Verdict
It is quite possible that either one of the teams could be in the bottom three come Christmas time the way the league is shaping up this season, but If I was a gambling man (which of course I am) I would gamble on the team being Blackburn and maybe even that Paul ince will be out of a job come Christmas day as after all football is a results business and five defeats on the bounce is not good in anyone’s books.
As for Wigan I still fully expect them to be a mid table team this season even once the league sorts itself out, and as such I think that they will be too good for Blackburn in this game and the price for the home win is around the even money mark and when you consider the runs that both teams are currently on then for me this is great value.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Wigan to win this match
BEST BETTING TIP :
Pick Wigan to win @ around even money
