After a rather slow start to the season, Wigan Athletic have become one of the title favourites in Sky Bet League One.
The Latics arrive at the Eco-Power Stadium for this weekend’s match sitting fourth in the League One table on 45 points – just five points off joint-top teams Rotherham and Sunderland.
The Latics bring a league record of 14 wins, three draws and four losses into the weekend’s fixture with Rovers. However, in their last 10 league matches, Wigan has picked up 24 of a possible 30 points available to them, winning seven games and drawing just three. The team has lost just one of its last 16 games across all competitions, with the last loss being a 2-1 defeat at the DW Stadium against Lincoln City on October 26.
While the team was unable to string together consecutive wins through the first month of the season, it was a 2-1 home win over Rovers that seemed to jump-start the Latics season.
Wigan has registered 12 clean sheets this season – three of those being 0-0 draws. Aside from those three goalless draws, the Latics have only failed to score in two other matches this season – a 2-0 loss away to Crewe Alexandra, as well as a 2-0 loss against Sunderland in the Carabao Cup.
Goals come thick and fast for the Latics, as Callum Lang (11 goals, five assists) and Will Keane (10 goals, five assists) lead the line in scoring, as the dup has combined for 40.3% of the team’s goals this season. Republic of Ireland international James McCLean has contributed with six goals, while Charlie Wyke has accumulated five goals for the club. In the Latics current run, the team is averaging 2.21 goals per game over the last 14 contests in all competitions.
In all games, Wigan have registered 52 goals on the season, allowing 30 goals from the opposition. It is all part of Richardson’s high-intensity game plan as manager, one that delivered a stunning 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers last weekend in the third round of the Emirates FA Cup. A win in the FA Cup, a 6-0 defeat of Oldham Athletic in the Papa John’s Trophy and a 3-2 win away from home against Oxford United is how the Latics arrive to Eco-Power Stadium – with three wins on the spin.
Using a 2-1 win over Rovers at the DW Stadium on September 11, Wigan now holds a record of five wins, two losses and two draws against Rovers across the last nine meetings between the two sides.
Rovers last win in league play against Wigan was a 3-1 victory in a League One in April 2016. With Wigan recently bouncing back and forth between the EFL Championship and League One. The two teams met as members of the Championship in January 2014. That contest went the way of a 3-0 Rovers victory.
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