Wigan vs Stoke prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2022-11-01 19:45.
Wiganâs downward spiral towards the Championship relegation zone continued when they lost 1-0 at home to Watford last time out to extend their losing run to four straight matches. The result meant manager Leam Richardson celebrated signing a new deal in the worst possible way, and his side now come into the round just two points above the drop zone and aiming to avoid losing five consecutive league games for the first time since December 2016.
Back to the DW Stadium for the second time in a matter of days, optimism may be lacking since the Latics have won only one of their last 11 home matches (D4, L6). The inverse is true when hosting Stoke City though, as Wigan have lost only one of the 11 previous home league H2Hs (W4, D6).
Stoke find themselves in an almost identical crisis, with their most recent 3-1 defeat away to Norwich handing them a third successive loss, and they now find themselves level on points with their hosts (19). Just one goal scored in those three defeats speaks to the root of their issues, and manager Alex Neil pulled no punches when discussing the same on Saturday: "We were good until we reached the final third and then we were very wastefulâ.
That was Stokeâs first loss in their last five away games though (W2, D2), something Neil will be wanting to remind his troops of ahead of their trip to Wigan. Neil might also be quick to emphasise the need for a fast start, with the first half very much dictating the fate of the Pottersâ matches this season, as 13 of their 17 league fixtures have produced the same half-time result at full-time.
Key battle: Wiganâs Will Keane will be âwell keenâ on a fast start of his own, having scored the match opener in each of his last four goalscoring outings, while Stoke defender Phil Jagielka will hope to have something to say about that, having gone unbeaten in eight of his last ten H2Hs (W5, D3), and scoring in two of his last three.
Hot stat: No Championship side has dropped more points after scoring first than Wiganâs 13 this season.