Who escapes demotion? That’s the question Stoke fans are asking themselves before the difficult trip from Wigan on Tuesday night (19:45). In the 40th round of the Championship, the white-reds have a difficult mission and cannot count on the injured Allen, Verlinden and Shawcross. Dunkley, Windass, Massey and Roberts, important starters for Paul Cook, will not be able to play from Wigan.
Neither team is safe, although both are outside the “mined” area. Wigan is in 17th place (goal difference 42-50) and has 47 points, while Stoke is in 20th place (goal average 50-58) and has 43 points, one more than Hull and Huddersfield. The team that will lose this match would seriously complicate its situation, with six stages before the end of the season.
Stoke’s problem is mainly the attack, because the “potters” rarely impressed in the offensive. Except for a 5-1 draw with Hull, Stoke come after draws with Blackburn (0-0), Luton (1-1) and Reading (1-1) and a failure the previous weekend with Middlesbrough (0-2). Instead, Wigan has 5 victories in the last 6 stages and has not conceded a goal in seven stages! In the round, Stoke won after a spectacular second half, but the white-and-reds will have a lot to shoot in Tuesday night’s game.
Wigan Athletic: Marshall; Byrne, Cyprus, Balogun, Robinson; Williams, Evans, Morsy; Lowe, Moore, Jacobs
Coach: Paul Cook
Stoke City: Butland; Smith, Batth, Shawcross, Martins Indi; Cousins, Clucas, Thompson; Ince, Vokes, McClean
Coach: Michael O’Neill
Stoke have won the last two consecutive duels with Wigan, 2-1 and 1-0;
In the round, Wigan opened the scoring through Morsy (’39), but Batth (’55) and Diouf (’90 +2) turned the game around;
In 3 of the last 4 direct duels he scored at most one of the teams;
7 of the last 12 direct duels of the two ended in a draw;
Stoke has 4 wins in 11 away games. Wigan have lost 6 of their 19 matches at home;
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / NO @ 1,80
