Two sides hoping to record a first win of the Championship season will do battle on Saturday, as Wigan Athletic entertain Bristol City.
Following their promotion, the hosts have played out back-to-back draws in their opening two matches, while their visitors are one of just two sides to have lost both games so far.
Match preview
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After two years in England's third tier, Wigan Athletic returned to the Championship as League One winners ahead of the new season, and Leam Richardson's side set out to avoid an immediate relegation.
They began with a home game against Lancashire rivals Preston North End and came away with a point following a goalless draw, having failed to capitalise on the visitors playing the final 10 minutes with 10 men after Ched Evans's red card.
The Latics then travelled to take on newly-relegated Norwich City, and, after James McClean gave them a surprise lead, they were eventually able to leave with a creditable point after Max Aarons drew the hosts level on the hour mark.
On the back of a start which should have been relatively pleasing for Richardson, Wigan most recently made the short trip to take on Fleetwood Town in the EFL Cup first round and were dumped out of the competition as Gerard Garner hit the only goal of the game.
Now able to solely focus on their league effort, the Latics will hope to build on their two positive Championship performances thus far and put a first victory on the board on Saturday.
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Bristol City, meanwhile, make the trip in search of a first point of the new season under the management of Nigel Pearson.
The Robins' campaign started with a trip to Hull City, and they led 1-0 until the 70th minute through Andreas Weimann, only for Ozan Tufan to equalise for the Tigers and Jean-Michael Seri to net a winner in the 94th minute, snatching all three points in dramatic fashion.
Looking to bounce back from that disappointment, Pearson's men hosted newly-promoted Sunderland in what turned out to be a dramatic encounter.
Ellis Simms put their visitors ahead early on, but Weimann quickly equalised and Chris Martin had the Robins ahead in the 51st minute, only for Simms to again level the scores before Ross Stewart hit the winning goal for the Black Cats 20 minutes from time.
Now hoping to avoid getting cut adrift as the table takes shape, after two narrow defeats, Bristol City will hope to take the positives from their midweek EFL Cup thrashing of Coventry City, in which Tommy Conway hit a brace alongside goals from Kal Naismith and Weimann, and open their account in the league with an away win.
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Team News
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After making wholesale changes for the EFL Cup tie with Fleetwood, Wigan Athletic will return to a more familiar starting lineup, with the likes of Max Power, Tom Naylor, Curtis Tilt and Tendayi Darikwa all set to come back in on Saturday.
Josh Magennis should lead the line, while winger James McClean opened his account for the season away at Norwich and is another man to watch as well as Callum Lang on the opposite flank.
Will Keane is arguably the Latics' main threat in the attacking third, having helped to fire them to promotion with 26 league goals last season, and he should operate just behind the lone striker.
On the contrary to their opponents, Bristol City only made small changes for their cup game in midweek, and Tommy Conway has laid his claim for a league start with a brace in the beating of Coventry.
He will battle with Chris Martin to play up front alongside star man Andreas Weimann, who has carried his fine form into the new season, finding the net in each of their three competitive games so far after hitting 22 goals and providing 10 assists in the Championship last term.
Young midfielder Alex Scott has seemingly established himself as a core member of the squad and should operate behind the front two, with Han-Noah Massengo set to operate in the engine room while new signing Kal Naismith will line up in a back three alongside Zak Vyner and Rob Atkinson.
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Amos; Darikwa, Tilt, Kerr, Bennett; Power, Naylor; McClean, Keane, Lang; Magennis
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Vyner, Naismith, Atkinson; Sykes, Massengo, King, Dasilva; Scott; Weimann, Conway
We say: Wigan Athletic 1-1 Bristol City
Both sides will likely identify Saturday's contest as a good opportunity to pick up an important three-point haul, but we cannot quite split them and see a share of the spoils as the most likely outcome.
The Robins will be desperate to put their two defeats behind them and post an away win, but Richardson's side should be well drilled, particularly on home turf, so we opt for a low-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
