Analysis: Wigan - Liverpool

The Premier League does not slow down the pace. Before the holidays the 17th league round will be played where the match Wigan-Liverpool will be one of the most interesting matches...

Classification and teams’ condition:
The chances of Liverpool’s winning the Championship of England at the half of the season are very small. The Reds are just struggling for the places in the Champions League. Liverpool (29 points) has only 5 points less than the third team in the table - Tottenham. The aim of Wigan, as usual, is to keep the place in the elite of the Premier League. But Robert Martinez’s team has only 13 points on its account, occupying the 18th place, which means the slump in the Championship.

Potential and team situation:
Wigan seems to get weaker year after year. Everyone will remember this team, which stormed into the Premier League, and, although many did not give them a chance in the league, they unexpectedly took the high 10th place, advancing to the League Cup final. Unfortunately the situation was getting worse and worse, especially when it comes to the finances. Although Wigan succeeded in playing to a tie with Chelsea (1:1) in the previous round on Saturday, the Latics played poorly later on, and but for the awkwardness of the London defense and the fateful intervention of Petr Cech , who shot the goal, they wouldn’t have received a valuable point. Wigan’s game lacks quality: a weak squad, low budget, and the everyday problems - injuries. Alcaraz, Aanholt, as well as the main goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, who used to play for Liverpool, will miss the match against the Reds.
The visiting team also has some problems. The Reds are in a very unequal shape, having both really good matches and weaker performances. It seems that some transfers, the managers from the Anfield Road did, have been unsuccessful. Andy Caroll and ... Dirk Kuyt, who lost his former shape somewhere, failed to come up to the expectations. The Scottish manager of the Reds will not be able field Jay Spearing, who was excluded for 3 matches, and the injured Lucas Leiva and Steven Gerrard at the DW stadium. The absence of the latter one has a tremendous effect on the game of Liverpool, which has a huge problem in scoring goals.

History of the meetings:
From the moment the Wigan players advanced to the Premier League, it was in the 2004/2005 season, they have already play 12 games against Liverpool. The Reds usually won, they have 7 victories on the account. Four meetings of these teams ended in a tie, and Wigan won only once in the 2009/10 season. Scoring balance is 8:20 in favour of Kenny Dalglish’s team.

Tips and justifications:
Wigan and Liverpool have one thing in common - the problem with the game style. Even if we can still understand Wigan, the Reds’ game is incomprehensible, because the team has many world class players. Another common feature of Wigan and Liverpool is the weak effectiveness of the teams. The home team earned only 15 goals in 16 matches, and the visiting team - 20 goals. The two last matches of these teams were the fights between the defenders; we hope this trend will last.

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