English Premier
2011-09-10 - Manchester City vs Wigan
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 10 September 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Manchester City
Manchester City have made a fantastic start to the season as Roberto Mancini seems to have taken the shackles off his side and allowed the creative players to play with the freedom they desire. Edin Dzeko has been in fine form and City have already shown they are a genuine threat to win the Premier League this season.
If someone had told City fans that they would have won 3 out of 3 games to open the season and have scored 12 goals in those games, I am sure they would have taken it like a shot and also expected to be sitting on top of the pile at the International break. However, they are 2nd to local rivals United who have scored 1 more goal in their 3 games.
City have had arguably the most impressive result of the season when they went to White Hart Lane and won 1-5 last time out. Previously they had beaten Swansea at home and Bolton away and they have looked a threat coming forward in all of these games. The team have won 9 games in a row at home in all competitions, and have conceded just 1 goal in those games.
Kolo Toure is back from his suspension from failing a drugs test, but I find it hard to believe he will break the Kompany-Lescott centre half pairing. Nigel de Jong is unlikely to return to the side, while Samir Nasri and Micah Richards should both be available after suffering knocks while with their international sides. With their first Champions League game to be played on Wednesday, it will be interesting to see if Mancini decides to rotate some of his side.
Wigan
You have to commend Roberto Martinez were sticking with Wigan this Summer even when a 'bigger' club like Aston Villa came calling and he continues to work wonders by getting his side to play in an attractive manner while picking up important results. Many expected this to be a tough season for the Latics as they have not made much investment in the squad, but with a manager like Martinez you can only hope they do enough to survive.
Wigan are in the lofty position of 8th in the table after picking up 5 points from their opening 3 games of the season. They have drawn their only away game they have played and they have only conceded 1 goal in their 3 games. The defensive side of things is an area that Martinez had improved last season and it looks like he will continue to improve if the start of the season is any indication.
By a strange quirk of fate, Wigan were scheduled to meet the 3 promoted sides in their opening games of the season. They have been unfortunate not to pick up more than 1 win and 2 draws as they were leading against Norwich before drawing 1-1, and also missed a penalty at Swansea in a 0-0 draw. The team beat QPR 2-0 at home last time out.
Antolin Alcaraz is a long term injury and wont be available until December. Steve Gohouri and James McCarthy are in races against time if they are to be passed fit for this game and both will need to have late tests.
Head to Head
Manchester City have won 4 of their last 5 League games against their North West rivals after initially failing to win any of the 7 Premier League games they had played against one another.
City have won their last 3 home games against Wigan, and have kept clean sheets in their last 4 here against them.
In fact, City have conceded just 1 goal against Wigan in the last 5 games overall.
Prediction
After the blistering start to the season, it is now surprise to see Manchester City as short as they are in the market- to put it into perspective, City were 2.40 to beat Swansea by more than 1 goal, yet they are just 1.60 to do the same to Wigan on Saturday.
I have no interest in taking City at the bigger handicaps as they could be concentrating on their Champions League debut on Wednesday and they may make changes to their side and ensure they do just enough to win the game.
However, one thing that does stick out to me is the defensive record of the side at the newly named Etihad Stadium. They have conceded just 1 goal in 9 competitive games there going back to last season, and have already opened this season with a clean sheet against Swansea.
Wigan have had a few problems scoring goals, needing a penalty against Norwich and two deflected strikes against QPR, and they have also only scored 1 in their last 5 games against City and failed to score in their last 4 visits to this stadium.
The Wigan defence is definitely playing stronger over the last couple of seasons, but one goal may be all it needs for City to win this game and I am going to take on Ladbrokes with their evens quote that City win this to nil.
That is a bigger price than the large Asian Handicaps on offer and looks the most productive way to get on this game in my opinion.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester City 1-0 Wigan
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Manchester City win to nil @ 2.00 (Ladbrokes)
