Alan Hansen’s Premier League Preview: Wigan v Sunderland
Wigan will be pleased to be back at the DW Stadium this weekend after a miserable trip to White Hart Lane last time out. The Latics were thrashed 9-1 prompting the players to fork out for the poor fans who travelled to the match. Next up they face another tough clash as Steve Bruce’s Sunderland visit fresh from beating Arsenal.
Steve Bruce will be returning to the DW Stadium for the first time since leaving Wigan in the summer with a point to prove after Chairman Dave Whelan’s criticism of some his signings whilst with the club. The Latics made a huge profit on a number of those players so I’m generally surprised at those comments but it does add more spice to the game this weekend.
The Black Cats will be most people’s favourites and if this match was being played at the Stadium of Light then I’d have to agree with them. However, at the DW Stadium Wigan have shown they can beat anybody. Martinez’ team are unbeaten in their last four home league matches, a run that includes victories over West Ham and Chelsea plus draws with Man City and Fulham.
After the week the Wigan players have had, I expect them to put on a performance to prove to the Latics faithful that they do care. They will have been stung by the criticism they’ve received from all quarters for their inept defensive display at the Lane and having been a professional footballer myself, I know the players will want to show their commitment.
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Sunderland are winning plenty of plaudits for their performances this season and rightly so but their away record is not so impressive. The Black Cats have not won any of their last five away trips, losing four of them. Their only point in this run came surprisingly at Old Trafford when they could quite easily have won. They were also unlucky at Tottenham but the fact remains Sunderland are not picking up enough points away from the North-East despite good performances.
This is something the Black Cats need to work on as one win in the last 16 away Premier League trips is not good. Steve will know his team needs to tighten up defensively away from home as they’ve conceded at least two goals in each of the last four away games.
The Latics may have the worst defensive record in the division but 22 of the 31 goals they’ve conceded have been away from home, so I wouldn’t anticipate another thrashing this weekend.. The fact that Wigan have only lost one of their last six league meetings (4 wins) with Sunderland may just be the little confidence booster they need. Despite, contrasting fortunes last weekend I’m backing the draw on this week’s Premier 10 £45,000 rollover as I expect the Wigan players professionalism and pride to rise to the occasion for a battling point against a very good Sunderland team.
Tags: Alan Hansen, Premier 10, Premier League, Sunderland, Wigan
