Wigan Athletic will be looking to further distance themselves from the Championship relegation zone when they welcome Blackburn Rovers to the DW Stadium on Saturday.
Blackburn, meanwhile, are firmly in with a shout of a top-six finish following a 3-1 victory over fellow promotion hopefuls Bristol City last time out.
Match preview
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Wigan picked up right where they left off in the Championship as they enjoyed a comfortable 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town last Saturday - their fourth clean sheet in a row.
The result means their survival hopes are looking all the more promising, and the Latics have only lost one of their last nine fixtures in the Championship, with four wins from their last five.
Furthermore, Paul Cook's side have not suffered defeat in seven matches - the best unbeaten run in the league at the moment. Stoke City, who lie one point below Wigan in the table, are the only other side without defeat in their last five.
The Latics are only three points clear of the drop zone in 17th, though, so there are no guarantees of safety just yet. Nevertheless, if they can carry this momentum forward into the next couple of months then Cook's men should secure their Championship status with relative ease.
However, Wigan cannot move any higher with a victory this weekend, and any slip-ups at this stage of the campaign could see their position become all the more precarious as the battle to avoid relegation gathers pace.
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Blackburn also marked their return to Championship action in ideal fashion, with their 3-1 victory over Bristol City leaving them only one point adrift of the playoff places.
Tony Mowbray's men ended a four-game winless run courtesy of goals from Corry Evans, Tosin Adarabioyo and Adam Armstrong, and Blackburn have now amassed 56 points from 38 games as they lie eighth in the table.
Preston North End, who occupy the final playoff spot, have endured a dismal run of form and a fierce battle for the top six is now ensuing – with Cardiff City, Blackburn, Swansea City, Bristol City, Millwall and Derby County all in with a chance.
However, Blackburn's poor record before the shutdown did not help their cause – they drew three and lost one of their last four matches before play was called to a halt amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Mowbray's side have only tasted defeat in one of their last five league outings on the road, although they were held to a goalless stalemate by Wigan when the sides last faced off just before Christmas.
Wigan Athletic Championship form: DWWWDW
Blackburn Rovers Championship form: WDDDLW
Team News
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Wigan's only long-term absentee Chey Dunkley remains out after the defender suffered a broken leg against Reading in February.
Full-back Antonee Robinson made a surprise return to the starting lineup against Huddersfield, but Gavin Massey was forced to miss out and it remains to be seen if he will recover in time for Saturday.
Defender Leon Balogun returned to action in a midweek friendly against Fleetwood Town, and the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee is in contention for a start against Blackburn.
As far as Rovers are concerned, midfielder John Buckley will serve the second of his two-game suspension and will not feature for this one.
Amari'i Bell and Derrick Williams are both set to miss out through injury, but Ryan Nyambe could return to the right-back position after missing out against Bristol with a dead leg.
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Marshall; Byrne, Balogun, Kipre, Robinson; Pilkington, Williams, Morsy; Lowe, Moore, Jacobs
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Walton; Nyambe, Lenihan, Adarabioyo, Rankin-Costello; Travis, Downing; Gallagher, Holtby, Rothwell, Armstrong
We say: Wigan Athletic 1-1 Blackburn Rovers
The two clubs are in desperate need of wins for entirely different reasons, and both sides should be heading into this clash full of confidence following their respective victories last time out. That being said, we are struggling to pick a winner for this one and think that a draw is the most likely outcome.
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Wigan Athletic win with a probability of 41.14%. A win for Blackburn Rovers had a probability of 32.94% and a draw had a probability of 25.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wigan Athletic win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.92%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.74%) and 2-0 (7.04%). The likeliest Blackburn Rovers win was 0-1 (8.68%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.31%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 7% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Wigan Athletic would win this match.
