Wigan Athletic v Manchester United – Preview, Prediction, TV Listings, and Betting Odds – EPL (Premier League) – 26 February 2011
The Red Devils won four of their last five league matches as they travel to face 18th place Wigan Athletic in the English Premier League. The match will take place at the DW Stadium in Wigan, England on Saturday, February 26, 2011. Kickoff is scheduled for 15:00 GMT (UK time), 16:00 CET (Central Europe), and 10:00 EST (USA Eastern)
Wigan Athletic v Manchester United TV Listings
It will be televised on Fox Soccer Channel (USA), Setanta Sports (Canada), C+ (France), Sky Sport (Germany), Sky Sport (Italy), Sport 1 Live (Netherlands), Sport TV1 (Portugal), and on Abu Dhabi Sports (Middle East).
Wigan Athletic v Manchester United Preview
Man Utd manager Alex Ferguson
“Michael makes me feel guilty at times when I pick my other strikers because he is a senior player and time is obviously not on his side like it is for Chicharito and the other youngsters who make up our squad,” Sir Alex said recently.
“He is going to be a very valuable player as the season ticks on and hopefully we take on board matches in the other competitions. It will be an opportunity to give him pitch time.
“Michael has never let me down and is a phenomenal player around the box. I sense he is going to be a key man between now and the end of the season.”
“You try things. We all try things,” he said.
“But it won’t be easy to come back from that kind of points deficit.
“I said some time ago, the team that is most consistent would win the league. That is why I stress that we have to keep our momentum going and get that consistency.”
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez
“It’s been a welcome break and a perfect point in the season to re-focus and regenerate.
“Some of the players have been able to spend time with their families which is important and now we’re in the best moment of our season in terms of competition and form of the players.
“You can see in the players’ faces that they are fully refreshed from the break and obviously their bodies have benefitted too.
“We’ve shown in the past that we’re capable of competing against the best, being ourselves and getting results over anyone.
“Our performance will have to be perfect, but Man Utd are the only Premier League side we’re yet to defeat and that gives the players extra motivation to get a result.
“We know we’re playing against a world-class team on Saturday but one thing we have learnt from this season is that the points we’ve earned have all come down to our performances.
“It means we know how we have to perform in order to compete against a mature Manchester United side.”
“Against Marseille they (Man Utd) controlled the game and got the result they needed, never under any pressure due to the experience they have.
“That’s what we have to contend with on Saturday, but I believe our squad is in a very good moment which has be evident in games against West Brom, Blackburn and Liverpool.
“That has given us a clear idea of where are and so long as we give a good performance this weekend we’ll have a great chance of taking points.
“The top sides are used to dealing with a busy fixture list so there’s never a good or a bad time to play them.
“Around this time of the season the top-four teams are in full-gear and the next month or two will determine how their season finishes.
“You have to make sure you’re perfect in your performance to make sure you can compete on the day.
“There are two challenges for us on the day; firstly to overcome a side who have suffered just one defeat all season and, secondly, to try and get a result against a team for the first time in our history.”
“I’ve seen a lot of football over the last two weeks and it’s clear that this was not just a problem for us, there are many grounds in all divisions that are suffering from damaged pitches.
“In that respect we’ve been very fortunate to count on the expertise of Ian Forshaw (Head Groundsman) and his team who have done an excellent job in making sure we have the best possible surface to play our football on.”
“Emmerson is the only player who’ll need assessing ahead of the game to reveal if he’ll be ready for the game, but everyone else is fit and available.”
Man Utd player John O’Shea
“We know we have to win games now. It’s coming to that stage where wins are so vital and we’re going to have to commit men forward and really go at teams.”
“This time of the season is always exciting and a period which as players we look forward to.
“We’ve watched some of the clips of Wigan and their counter-attacks and set-piece deliveries and we know if we don’t play well we’ll have a very tough day.
“With the players we have in the squad and the mentality of the team we’ll be going there to create lots of chances and hopefully we can take them.”
Injuries
Wigan – None
Man Utd – Anderson (knee), Evans & Valencia (both ankle), Ferdinand (calf), Hargreaves & Park (both hamstring)
Team Stat Comparison
| Wigan Athletic | Manchester United | |
|---|---|---|
| Matches Played | 27 | 26 |
| Table Position | 18 | 1 |
| Points | 27 | 57 |
| Goal Difference | -18 | 32 |
| Goals for * | 1.1 | 1.5 |
| Goals against * | 1.9 | 1.3 |
| Last 5 | D-W-D-L-L | W-L-W-W-W |
| Last 5 home | W-L-D-L-D | W-W-W-W-W |
| Last 5 away | D-D-L-D-W | L-W-D-W-D |
| * Goals per match – home matches for home club and away matches for away club | ||
Competition Stats
| Wigan Athletic | Manchester United | |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | Hugo Rodallega 7 | Dimitar Berbatov 19 |
| Assists | Charles N’Zogbia 3 | Nani 11 |
| Yellows | Steve Gohouri 9 | Paul Scholes 8 |
| Reds | Gary Caldwell 1 | Rafael 1 |
Tables
| PO | TEAM | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man Utd | 26 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 57 | 25 | 32 | 57 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 27 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 57 | 27 | 30 | 56 |
| 3 | Man City | 27 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 43 | 24 | 19 | 49 |
| 4 | Tottenham | 27 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 38 | 31 | 7 | 47 |
| 5 | Chelsea | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 46 | 22 | 24 | 45 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 27 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 35 | 32 | 3 | 39 |
| 7 | Sunderland | 27 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 37 |
| 8 | Bolton | 27 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 38 | 37 | 1 | 36 |
| 9 | Newcastle | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 42 | 38 | 4 | 35 |
| 10 | Stoke | 27 | 10 | 3 | 14 | 31 | 34 | -3 | 33 |
| 11 | Blackburn | 27 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 34 | 42 | -8 | 32 |
| 12 | Blackpool | 27 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 42 | 51 | -9 | 32 |
| 13 | Fulham | 27 | 6 | 13 | 8 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 31 |
| 14 | Everton | 26 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 33 | 36 | -3 | 30 |
| 15 | Birmingham | 26 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 25 | 35 | -10 | 30 |
| 16 | Aston Villa | 27 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 31 | 46 | -15 | 30 |
| 17 | West Brom | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 35 | 52 | -17 | 28 |
| 18 | Wigan | 27 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 27 | 45 | -18 | 27 |
| 19 | West Ham | 27 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 30 | 48 | -18 | 25 |
| 20 | Wolves | 27 | 7 | 4 | 16 | 27 | 46 | -19 | 25 |
Next Matches
| Wigan Athletic | Manchester United | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/26 | Manchester United | 2/26 | @Wigan Athletic |
| 3/5 | @Manchester City | 3/1 | @Chelsea |
| 3/19 | Birmingham | 3/6 | @Liverpool |
| 4/2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 3/19 | Bolton Wanderers |
| 4/9 | @Chelsea | 4/2 | @West Ham United |
Wigan Athletic v Manchester United Prediction
Manchester United wins 1-0
Wigan Athletic v Manchester United Betting Odds
Wigan win – 6/1
Draw – 3/1
Man Utd win – 1/2
