Fulham vs Wigan

January 11, 2013
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Having finally ended the dismal run of results by beating West Brom away, Fulham players will be very motivated to further improve their league position with three points from this clash. Wigan may have lost four of last five league fixtures, but after hammering Aston Villa in Birmingham they will fancy their chances at Craven Cottage.

Home form needs to improve

Having found a near perfect back four a couple of years back, Fulham officials have been heavily investing in the attacking department over the last few transfer windows, which has led to Cottagers becoming one of the most entertaining sides in the elite division. With the likes of Berbatov, Kacaniklic, Diff, Ruiz, Petrov and Rodallega all contributing to the attacking phase, Fulham have been scoring goals for fun this term, but their defence has paid the price for the switch to a more attacking approach. The fact that the Cottagers still sit in the bottom half of the standings is enough to suggest that Martin Jol has yet to find the right balance in the side, and until that happens, we can expect to see some more high-scoring matches involving the Craven Cottage outfit. After ending their disappointing run of results with the triumph at Hawthorns, the hosts should have enough confidence to attack out-of-form Wigan from the off.

Martin Jol has no fresh injury worries, but Mark Schwarzer, Mahamadou Diarra, Damien Duff, Simon Davies, Stephen Kelly and Mladen Petric remain sidelined.

Wigan in problems

Wigan had been consistently overachieving under Roberto Martinez, arguably the most talented manager in the top flight, but the Latics are not living up to the billing this season. While everybody expects them to embark on a similar run of results that saw them win seven of nine league games during a season finale last term, the Latics just cannot seem to record two good results in a row. Wigan have now picked up just 4 points from last 8 league fixtures, although their 3-0 victory over Aston Villa was certainly impressive. Considering that the Latics will have plenty of space to exploit at Craven Cottage and that Fulham are still far from their best, there may be a chance of Roberto Martinez’s side recording another away victory here. It is important to note that Wigan have already recorded three league wins on the road this term.

New signings Angelo Henriquez and Roger Espinoza are in contention for starting places, but Alcaraz, Crusat, Piscu, Miyaichi and Watson are out injured.

Verdict

With five of Fulham’s last six home games every one of Wigan’s last five on the road featuring at least three goals, this game has over 2.5 goals written all over it. Both sides will see this game as an opportunity to improve their precarious league position, which should guarantee us an end-to-end game at Craven Cottage.

Top pick: Over 2.5 goals   1.78 (7/9) @ BetVictor

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   1.67 (2/3) @ 888sport

Alternative pick 2: Over 3.5 goals   3.00 (2/1) @ Sportingbet

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