Football – England – Championship
Saturday 20th December 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Wigan Athletic suffered a third Championship defeat on the bounce last weekend when they went down 2-1 at Vicarage Road against play-off hopefuls Watford but The Latics will look to put an end to their miserable run when fellow strugglers Rotherham United visit this Saturday.
Former manager Uwe Rosler has been recently replaced by Malky Mackay who will be keen to gain his first league win for his new side and thus end a terrible run of seven matches without success, while their home form has been littered with draws – 2-6-2 12/9.
Wigan’s two home wins so far have been against strugglers Blackpool and (at the time) Birmingham City, so I reckon they’ll fancy their chances of claiming the points here today particularly with the likes of Espinoza up front supported by creative midfielders McManaman, Cowie and McClean.
Rotherham United find themselves fourth from bottom in the Championship but they do have a three-point lead over third from bottom Brighton going into this weekend. It’s now nine matches without a league win for The Millers who have recently been defeated against Middlesbrough, Reading and Birmingham City while their away form has brought just one win so far.
Rotherham’s away record stands at 1-5-4 6/12 with only Bolton Wanderers (5 goals) scoring fewer than them on the road. Rotherham have failed to score in five of their ten away matches so far, and have failed to hit the back of the net in each of their last three on their travels.
I believe this last statistic hands the initiative to hosts Wigan Athletic who hold home advantage and I’ll therefore back them (giving the quarter ball) to end their miserable run of form today by capturing the points in what could perhaps be a 2-1 win for The Latics.
Pick: Wigan Athletic AH-0.25 @ 1.67 Ladbrokes
