Fulham will endeavour to keep their slim hopes of automatic promotion alive when they travel to Wigan Athletic on the final day of the Championship season.
Meanwhile, Wigan looked to have secured their safety in the second tier of English football, but the threat of relegation is looming following internal issues at the club.
Match preview
© Reuters
Wigan Athletic boast a remarkable set of results following the Championship's resumption, but having gone into administration earlier in July, the Latics' efforts may prove futile by the end of the campaign.
Wigan have lodged an appeal against a proposed 12-point deduction, which could see them plunge into the relegation places, but the outcome of the appeal is not expected to be announced before the final day of the season.
As a result, it is imperative that the Latics continue their strong run of form and pick up all three points against Fulham in order to give themselves the best chance of survival possible - especially after Wigan dropped two vital points in a 2-2 draw with Charlton Athletic last time out.
As things stand, Wigan currently occupy 13th spot and are 10 clear of the bottom three, so if the impending 12-point deduction is to be upheld, Wigan must win and hope that other results go their way in order to remain in the Championship.
Paul Cook's men will have fond memories of their last home fixture where they put eight past Hull City without reply, and the Latics have won and kept clean sheets in all four of their games on familiar territory since the restart.
© Reuters
Hoping to spoil the Wigan party is one of three sides still battling to secure a runners-up spot and guarantee promotion to the Premier League.
Fulham will go toe-to-toe with West Bromwich Albion and Brentford on the final day to see who will enjoy automatic promotion alongside Leeds United, and who will be forced to settle for a spot in the playoffs.
However, Fulham's destiny is out of their own hands as they lie two points below second-placed West Brom and one below third-placed Brentford heading into the final day, meaning that Scott Parker's men would have to win and hope that Brentford and West Brom both suffer defeat in order to finish second.
The second and third-placed sides will face off against Queens Park Rangers and Barnsley respectively - games that both clubs will be expected to win - so barring a shock set of results, Fulham will have to make do with a playoff spot as they aim to make an immediate return to the top flight.
The Cottagers stormed to a 5-3 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in their most recent outing, and as is the case with Wigan, Fulham are enjoying a strong spell of form as they boast five wins from their last six.
Wigan Championship form: WLWDWD
Fulham Championship form: WWWWDW
Team News
© Reuters
Wigan will have to make do without Danny Fox once again, with the defender serving the third and final game of his suspension.
Michael Jacobs missed out against Charlton and remains a doubt here, while Cheyenne Dunkley continues his recovery from a broken leg.
Despite throwing away their 2-1 advantage in the dying embers of the draw with Charlton, Cook may stick with the same starting lineup from that game for the final day.
As for Fulham, Parker will have to make do without on-loan Southampton man Harrison Reed after the midfielder was sent off against Sheffield Wednesday.
Ivan Cavaleiro is Fulham's only injury concern at the minute, with Parker otherwise boasting a clean bill of health as the Cottagers prepare for one of the most important games of the season.
Wigan possible starting lineup:
Marshall; Byrne, Kipre, Balogun, Robinson; Williams, Morsy; Naismith, Dowell, Lowe; Moore
Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Christie, Hector, Ream, Bryan; Arter, Johansen; Knockaert, Cordova-Reid, Kebano; Mitrovic
We say: Wigan 3-2 Fulham
This is a difficult game to call. Both teams are in good spells of form and are in desperate need of a final three points for completely different reasons.
A win for either side may not make a difference to their promotion or relegation prospects depending on happenings on and off the pitch, but we are backing Wigan to scrape a narrow victory and leave their Championship status out of their own hands heading into the summer.
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 41.74%. A win for Fulham had a probability of 31.75% and a draw had a probability of 26.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wigan Athletic win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.78%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.71%) and 2-0 (7.44%). The likeliest Fulham win was 0-1 (9.13%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.6%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.6% likelihood.
