Premier League betting – Wigan v Man United

Wigan Athletic v Manchester United betting odds, tips & free bets

Wigan Athletic: League Position: 18th, League Form: LLDWD

Another season, another relegation fight for Wigan to contend with. The inconsistent side are 18th in the table, and are strongly fancied for the drop.

Much of their struggles can be attributed to a leaky defence. Martinez’s side like to play the ball on the deck, and can be very pleasing on the eye, but they leave themselves vulnerable, and it’s now 10 league games since their last clean sheet. 26 home goals conceded, the worst home defence in the league, suggests they are there to be got at in front of their own fans.

Any chance of going out and winning the game rests on the attacking laurels of Hugo Rodallega and Charles N’Zogbia. These two provide a fast and frenzied forward threat, with French winger N’Zogbia running the show for his side when on form. If these two are kept quiet its hard to see Wigan threatening the league leaders, and anyone else in the league.

Manchester United: League Position: 1st, League Form: WWWLW

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side recovered from defeat at Wolves in the perfect manner, three points at home to their cross city rivals. Arsenal’s midweek victory over Stoke leaves United only a single point clear at the top of the table, and the red half of Manchester cannot afford to drop more points at the grounds of relegation candidates.

A hard earned 0-0 draw in France on Wednesday may usually see the side rest a couple of players, but injuries mean this may not be possible. Top scorer Dimitar Berbatov was kept on the bench for the game, whilst Javier Hernandez (who scored at Old Trafford in the reverse fixture) has not figured for a little while, and this could give Ferguson the chance to rest Wayne Rooney.

At the back end of the season these are the kind of games the United title juggernaut brushes aside with ease, and it’s hard to see any exceptions to this norm here.

Match Prediction: Manchester United Win – 1.57 Victor Chandler

Since Wigan were promoted to the Premier League these sides have met in league and cup 12 times. Every one of these games has ended in a Manchester United win. In these 12 meetings Wigan have scored only five goals (never more than one in a game), whilst United have totted up 37 goals. Tough reading for Wigan fans looking for a scrap of optimism ahead of this match.

Inspiration for the home side can be found in United’s stats for this season. Three away wins from 12 games does not seem like title-winning form, but the league leaders are looking comfortable to achieve just that.

However, it’s difficult to see anything but a United win. They do seem to really hurt a team once every ten games, and Wigan is a place they like to do it, with 5-0 wins in both fixtures last year. And when United win big, it’s Berbatov who gets involved heavily (hat tricks against Birmingham and Liverpool, plus four goals against Blackburn). Rested midweek, he could be the man to watch.

Highlighted Bets:-

Over/Under: Over 2.5 Goals – 1.95 William Hill
First Goalscorer: Dimitar Berbatov – 5.5 Bet 365
Correct Score: 3-0 Man United – 12.00 Blue Square
Winning Margin: Manchester United to win by three or more goals – 4.33 Coral
Player to Score Two or More Goals: Dimitar Berbatov – 8.00 Bet365

Match Odds:-

By Chris Wilkerson

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