Wigan Athletic will look to continue their excellent 2021-22 campaign when they travel to Colchester United in the FA Cup second round.
While the Latics currently sit in second position in League One, Colchester head into Sunday's fixture down in 18th place in the fourth tier.
Match preview
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Wigan boss Leam Richardson has been in the news this week, receiving praise from striker Charlie Wyke after being credited with saving the life of his player after a cardiac arrest.
From Richardson's perspective, however, he will want focus to firmly turn back towards their efforts on the pitch with Wigan enjoying a fine campaign on all fronts.
Although progress was made in the EFL Trophy earlier this week, Richardson will be more eager for promotion and an FA Cup run, both of which are in the club's grasps.
Wigan needed a replay to overcome Solihull Moors in the first round, but momentum was maintained with the North-West outfit having now gone eight games without defeat in all competitions.
Thirteen points have also been collected in the league, Will Keane continuing his excellent season with a goal and an assist during the important triumph over Plymouth Argyle last weekend.
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There will be those who will argue that Hayden Mullins is fortunate to still be in a job at Colchester with the club having failed to live up to pre-season expectations.
Nevertheless, there are small signs that they are beginning to trend upwardly, the U's earning seven points from their last four fixtures in League Two.
Six of their 16 goals for the season have been scored during that quartet of games, Freddie Sears taking his tally for the season to seven with a strike in all but one of those contests.
Colchester, who are now six points above the relegation zone, reached this stage of the competition with a 4-0 success at non-league AFC Sudbury.
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Team News
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Having made 10 alterations for the EFL Trophy tie at Accrington Stanley, Richardson should revert back to the Wigan XI from the win over Plymouth.
Despite getting on the scoresheet in midweek, Stephen Humphrys will almost certainly only be named among the replacements.
The likes of Gavin Massey and Tom Bayliss are also in line to stay on the substitutes' bench.
Mullins made less changes for their EFL Trophy game at Swindon, Colchester producing another solid display to run out 2-1 victors.
Nevertheless, Sunday's team will be similar to the one which earned a point versus Newport County last week, with Alan Judge an alternative in midfield.
Charlie Daniels should also be restored at left-back after remaining as an unused substitute in midweek.
Colchester United possible starting lineup:
Turner; Coxe, Chambers, Smith, Daniels; Skuse, Chilvers; Jasper, Dobra, Hannant; Sears
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Amos; Kerr, Whatmough, Tilt; Darikwa, Power, Naylor, McClean; Aasgaard; Keane, Lang
We say: Colchester United 0-2 Wigan Athletic
Colchester have been much improved of late, something which should give them a fighting chance at the weekend. Nevertheless, Wigan should be far too strong, particularly in the defensive third, and we are backing the visitors to run out comfortable victors.
Top tip
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 54.63%. A draw had a probability of 24.3% and a win for Colchester United had a probability of 21.09%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wigan Athletic win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.28%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.27%) and 1-2 (9.64%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.53%), while for a Colchester United win it was 1-0 (6.9%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 9.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Wigan Athletic would win this match.
