Fulham V Wigan Athletic
Friday 27th September 2019 – 19:45 Kick-Off
English Championship
Pick: Fulham & Over 2.5 Goals
Odds: 23/20
Bookmaker: Coral
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | 7/2 | 28/5 |
* (All betting odds displayed were correct as of 24th September 2019 at 19:30)
Preview: Despite sitting much further down in the league table, it is Wigan who arrive with positive vibes after recently ending a six-game wait for a league victory. Their next opponents are out of sorts Fulham, winless in their last four league games but nonetheless confident they can maximise home comforts inside Craven Cottage.
English Championship Betting – 22Bet
Fulham Preview – Cottagers to end four-game winless run?
The Cottagers have seen their promotion push hit the buffers in recent weeks, with a 1-1 draw away to Sheffield Wednesday last weekend extending their current barren streak in the league without winning to four matches (D3 L1). It was a fair outcome according to Expected Goals (WED 1.47 – 1.24 FUL), though Fulham might have a different opinion about that after seeing a lead given to them through captain Tom Cairney cancelled out deep into second-half stoppage time.
Conceding late on is always a deflating experience, but this was the second game running this has happened. Fulham would do something very similar at home to West Brom; Anthony Knockaert putting them in front only for The Baggies to level matters with ten minutes remaining. And speaking of similar, it is now three successive draws in the league, all by the same 1-1 scoreline. Unsurprisingly, therefore, another 1-1 outcome is among the shorter prices available in the correct score market (8/1 with BetVictor).
Back at Craven Cottage though, Fulham will be demanding much better than another share of the spoils. Particularly with them facing a side struggling themselves near the foot of the standings. Yet it was at home where they would last taste league defeat, doing so against Nottingham Forest (1-2) on 24 August. Prior to that, however, the West London outfit impressively recorded back-to-back victories on home soil over Blackburn (2-0) and Millwall (4-0). A return to that sort of form is desperately required, and soon.
Wigan Preview – Latics to utilise momentum garnered from recent triumph?
It was all looking a little too ominous for Wigan prior to them registering a morale-boosting win over Charlton Athletic inside their DW Stadium last weekend. Perhaps even more shocking than the result itself – the Latics were floundering in the lower depths of the league while Charlton were flying high at the time – was the source of both goals, with defender Chey Dunkley’s brace sealing a 2-0 win which moved them up into 19th in the table (W2 D2 L4, GF8 GA13).
Victory last time out was all the more important because it reminded the players how good it felt to win games of football again. The opening weekend was the only other instance of Wigan winning a Championship fixture this season, when they managed to inflict an early blow on a Cardiff City side who would finish one place above Fulham in last season’s Premier League. Manager Paul Cook overseen a dire sequence of six games without winning a league fixture (D2 L4) in the intervening period.
The challenge now is not only to follow the Charlton result up with another positive display but producing a solid performance away from home, where they have not only been poor in the current campaign – losing at Preston (3-0), Middlesbrough (1-0) and QPR (3-1) – but were also woeful last season (W2 D5 L16, GF22 GA44). However, the Latics can at least take inspiration from their most recent away endeavour, when battling to a 2-2 draw at Hull City.
Fulham V Wigan Key Facts:
- Fulham occupy 12th position in the Championship table (W3 D3 L2) having failed to win their previous four fixtures.
- Wigan secured only their second win of the season last time out but still find themselves down in 19th-place (W2 D2 L4).
- Four of the previous five meetings ended in draws, three of which were score-draws, although Fulham were 3-2 winners the last occasion they clashed at Craven Cottage (Feb 2017).
Betting Summary
Letting a narrow lead slip in the dying moments of last Saturday’s contest with Sheffield Wednesday was the latest blow for this Fulham team, who were already in a low ebb and are now without a win in four league matches (D3 L1). The performances, though, have not been all bad, with Infogol ranking Fulham as the sixth-best side in the division. Meanwhile, only five sides have plundered more than their 12 goals, scoring in all four home fixtures thus far (W2 D1 L1).
Wigan could have newfound belief after recently arresting a six-game run without winning by beating Charlton 2-0 at home. On the road, however, their form remains horrendous, with a 2-2 draw at Hull in their most recent away encounter the first points registered away from home all season (D1 L3). No team picked up fewer points from away fixtures in the 2018-19 Championship (W2 D5 L16).
Fulham will not get many better opportunities to return to winning ways than a home meeting with homesick Wigan. A lack of clean sheets, conceding in each of their recent four league games and only twice all season, is cause for concern. Couple that with Wigan conceding on average two goals per game on their travels and there is the very distinct prospect of us witnessing a few goals.
