Preview: Wigan Athletic vs Stevenage,EFL League One,Gameweek 5

Soccer News 2024/09/24 04:03

After a stunning four-goal thrashing of Bristol Rovers in the West Country on 14 September, Wigan Athletic were unable to continue their run of away victories in League One on Saturday afternoon as they were forced to settle for a point against an in-form Lincoln City side.


Despite dominating possession at the LNER Stadium, the Latics were unable to threaten the Imps' goal, with the visitors managing just one shot on target in the entire 90 minutes as Joe Hugill and Thelo Aasgaard failed to find the target.


Nevertheless, a solid return of four points from their last two League One games has seen Wigan move up to 14th in the table ahead of Tuesday night's clash at The Brick Community Stadium, four points behind Lincoln in the bottom three.


The Latics will be hoping for a much-improved performance from their last outing in the north-west, where they lost 2-1 to League Two Morecambe in the 2024-25 edition of the EFL Trophy at the start of September, with Wigan's progress in the competition hanging in the balance.


Shaun Maloney, who took over midway through the club's 2022-23 Championship relegation campaign, has been tasked with rebuilding Wigan on the pitch in the third tier, and the FA Cup winner will take charge of the Latics for the 80th time on Tuesday.


Having missed out on a top-six finish by just five points last season, Stevenage will be keen to go one step further and secure a play-off spot this term, but Tuesday's visitors have struggled with inconsistency at the start of the 2024-25 campaign.


Fellow play-off contenders Barnsley were Boro's opponents at the Lamex on 14 September, and while they recorded a 3-0 win over the Tykes, Alex Revell's men failed to build any momentum after a sobering defeat on Saturday afternoon.


Stevenage failed to register a single shot at Joe Whitworth's goal against Exeter in Devon at the weekend, as goals either side of half-time from Edward Francis and Kami Doyle secured a two-goal victory for Gary Caldwell's mid-table Grecians.


With all three of their competitive wins so far this season coming in Hertfordshire, Boro will not be overly confident of picking up maximum points at the Brick on Tuesday, although Stevenage did beat Wigan at the same venue in January.


Heading into the midweek clash, Wigan and Stevenage have identical records in 14th and 15th respectively, with the winner of the game potentially moving as high as ninth by the end of Tuesday night's action.


Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:

Tickle; Carragher, Kerr, Aimson, Chambers; Smith, McManaman, Weir, Aasgaard, Thomas; Hugill


Stevenage possible starting lineup:

Mahoney; Wildin, Butler, Piergianni, Freestone; Freeman, King, White, Roberts; Reid, Aboh


Prediction:Wigan Athletic 1-0 Stevenage


Wigan Athletic VS Stevenage stream and TV listing

International:Holasports

  • Stevenage Borough

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