Wigan Athletic starts the season with a home match against Sheffield Wednesday. The Dutch-tinted Wednesday will find the way up in this race. Who will take the important first three points?
Wigan Athletic:
After Wigan managed to deliver a poor performance in the 2016-2017 season by becoming 23rd in the Championship, The Latics relegated to the League One. On the third level, the team of (new trainer) Paul Cook had to try to get back to the second level of England as soon as possible. 46 play rounds later it could be said that this was excellent. Wigan finished the season with 98 points and left competitor Blackburn Rovers behind in the battle for the championship. It is a coincidence that all three teams that relegated from the Championship (Wigan, Blackburn and Rotherham United) in the season 2016-2017 were immediately promoted back last season.
Despite the promotion and the associated performance bonuses, Wigan has made little or no direct purchases for the new season. The regular goalkeeper in the champion year, Christian Walton, has been hired again from Brighton & Hove Albion and Reece James and Antonee Robinson has been hired for a year from Chelsea and Everton, respectively. The most prominent new acquisition is Callum McManaman. The 27-year-old attacker is taken over from the degraded Sunderland, for which he played up to 24 games in the Championship last year.
Sheffield Wednesday:
After Sheffield Wednesday last season at the beginning of the second half of the season already knew that there was nothing to be gained (except for the avoidance of relegation), it is for everyone within the club a liberation that this year from moment one again played for something can become. With Jos Luhukay at the wheel, The Owls have become a lot more consistent than in the first half of last year and when things are going well, Wednesday may very well be considered an outsider for the playoffs.
However, there have been few promising purchases made by Wednesday this summer, and it therefore appears to have little chance of becoming a serious candidate for the playoffs. Although the selection currently consists of excellent players, there are a lot more teams (including Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough, etc.) who have prepared themselves much better for the battle for the playoffs.
Luhukay can nevertheless finally have his compatriot Joost van Aken this season. The defender with a past at SC Heerenveen missed a large part of the season last year thanks to a stubborn hamstring injury. In addition to Van Aken, Joey Pelupessy, who was taken over from Heracles Almelo in January, is also on Wednesday’s payroll. The midfielder managed to play silently in the basic eleven of Luhukay last year and, like Van Aken, seems to be allowed to make up for a starting place again this year.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1.81
