Wigan Athletic vs Norwich City

August 12, 2011
By: John Hansen

Both sides are expected to enter the relegation struggle this term, meaning that a win in this match will give one of the teams the upper hand over their rivals. Wigan look to be better prepared at the moment and their Premiership experience shouldn’t be disregarded, whereas Norwich are still on a high following unexpected promotion to the top flight.

Wigan impressed in pre-season

Wigan spent big part of last season in the relegation zone, but they managed to stay alive thanks to the great finish of the league campaign, having picked up eight points from last four games. Meanwhile, the Latics stayed without two key midfielders as Tom Cleverley returned to Manchester United, while Charles N’Zogbia joined Aston Villa, but the club managed to keep hold of talented manager Roberto Martinez, who rejected an offer from Villa to remain at DW Stadium. There are no doubts that the Spaniard believes in this side or else he wouldn’t have turned down such a good offer, and he may have a point there. The Latics boast a rock-solid defence, with several very experienced players, while midfield area is a mix of youth and experience. Scoring goals remains the biggest problem, but with James McCarthy and Victor Moses in very good form at the moment, Hugo Rodallega should be able to score some 15 or 20 Premiership goals this season.

Influential midfielder James McCarthy is doubtful after picking up an injury in the friendly win over Villarreal, while back-up keeper Mike Pollitt is also out. Martinez is still debating whether to include Antolin Alcaraz and Hugo Rodallega, as the pair only recently returned from Copa America.

Lack of Premiership experience

Former Celtic star Paul Lambert did remarkably well to lead Norwich to second place in the Championship and an automatic promotion place, but he faces an uphill task of keeping the Canaries in the top flight. Having reached the elite division with the squad mostly comprising of players with absolutely no Premiership experience, Lambert was expected to bring several experienced top flight players this summer, but he surprisingly did no such thing. Lambert did sign several Championship star performers, as well as James Vaughan, who only watched Premiership football from the bench or the stands, but with absolutely no experienced Premier League footballers, I don’t see how Norwich will survive this season. With seven new players, all of whom are competing for the starting places, the Canaries will need some time to hit the ground running, so the trip to DW Stadium is unlikely to give them something to cheer about.

James Vaughan is sidelined with a knee problem, but all other players should be ready to feature.

Verdict

Wigan are an established Premiership side and after doing really well in pre-season, they look ready for the start of the league campaign. Norwich, on the other hand, have done pretty poorly in the summer transfer window and they will don’t look capable of stopping Wigan from winning this game.

Our prediction: Home win

Odds: 2.20 (6/5)

Bookmaker: Bet365

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