Wigan Athletic will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run of form in League One to eight matches when they welcome Fleetwood Town to the DW Stadium on Wednesday night.
The home side have not been in action since overcoming Oxford United on December 18, but Fleetwood played on Boxing Day, suffering a 3-0 defeat to Shrewsbury Town in Lancashire.
Match preview
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Wigan were forced to postpone Sunday's clash with Crewe Alexandra due to 'several COVID-19 cases and other injuries' in the first-team squad, but this match, for the moment, is scheduled to go ahead.
As a result, Leam Richardson's side have not been in action since beating Oxford United 3-2 on December 18, with James McClean netting a late winner for the visitors at the Kassam Stadium.
Wigan are unbeaten in their last seven League One matches, and a record of 14 wins, three draws and four defeats from 21 games has seen them collect 45 points to sit third in the division.
The Latics are only two points behind leaders Rotherham United and have two games in hand on the table-toppers, while they also have two matches in hand on second-placed Sunderland, who are just a point ahead.
Wigan will be looking to make it back-to-back victories over Fleetwood this season, having recorded a 3-2 win when the two teams locked horns in the reverse fixture at the start of November.
Unlike the Latics, Fleetwood were in action on Boxing Day, with Stephen Crainey's side suffering a 3-0 home defeat to Shrewsbury, who scored three times in the second period.
Crainey called on the "younger players in the group" to "learn" from the disappointing loss, and the Cod Army are now set to face another tough examination against high-flying Wigan.
A record of five wins, seven draws and 11 defeats from 23 matches has seen Fleetwood collect 22 points to leave them in 19th position in the table, just two points ahead of the relegation zone.
The visitors, who finished 15th in the third tier last season, managed to pick up a point in the corresponding match between the two teams last season, although they have only been victorious in one of the last eight fixtures between the sides.
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Team News
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Wigan were unable to face Crewe on Boxing Day to the coronavirus cases and injuries in their squad, and it is unclear how many of the impacted players will be available for this game.
Head coach Richardson is likely to leave it until the last possible moment before selecting a starting team, as he will have to assess the fitness of his returning players.
However, the home side will hope to have Will Keane available to lead the line, with the former Manchester United youngster scoring 10 League One goals during an impressive season to date.
As for Fleetwood, head coach Crainey is expected to make changes from the side that started the three-goal loss at home to Shrewsbury on Boxing Day.
Forward Gerard Garner was forced off in the first half of the clash on Sunday through injury and could now be replaced in the starting side by Chris Conn-Clarke.
Shayden Morris and Callum Johnson are also expected to be handed starting roles, as Crainey prepares to shuffle his pack for the clash at the DW Stadium.
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Amos; Darikwa, Whatmough, Tilt, Bennett; Power, Naylor; Massey, Lang, McClean; Keane
Fleetwood Town possible starting lineup:
Cairns; Johnston, Clarke, McLaughlin, Andrew; Lane, Morris, Matete, Biggins, Johnson; Conn-Clarke
We say: Wigan Athletic 2-0 Fleetwood Town
The state of Wigan's squad heading into this match is unclear, but the club are confident that the match will go ahead, and we are expecting them to have too much quality for Fleetwood, who are now hovering dangerously close to the relegation zone heading towards 2022.
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 61.77%. A draw had a probability of 21.9% and a win for Fleetwood Town had a probability of 16.29%.
The most likely scoreline for a Wigan Athletic win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.61%) and 2-1 (9.78%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.42%), while for a Fleetwood Town win it was 0-1 (5.55%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 11.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted a 2-0 win for Wigan Athletic in this match and our data analysis correctly predicted the win for Wigan Athletic.
