Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic: Spurs have sights set on the Gunners

With Aston Villa and Arsenal slipping up yesterday, Spurs have an ideal opportunity to go level on points with their north London rivals in third with a win this afternoon against Wigan Athletic. However, they may not get it all their own way as Roberto Martinez will be looking to claim the scalp of yet another of the league’s top clubs.

Wigan Athletic have already defeated the likes of Chelsea and Aston Villa this season but their indifferent form sees them currently sit just four points off the drop zone. For every great result against a Chelsea or a Villa they have then gone and dropped points against Wolves and Hull City. The Spaniard will be hoping the international break has rejuvenated his players and add Spurs to their list of conquests.

Spurs got back to winning ways last time out against Sunderland following back-to-back defeats against Stoke City and Arsenal, although even the most passionate Spurs fan will concede they were fortunate to beat the Black Cats. Redknapp will be hoping to build on that result this afternoon against a Wigan side that have lost three of their past five games.

This will be just the tenth meeting between the two sides in history and Wigan recorded their only victory against Spurs last season at the JJB Stadium, now known as the DW Stadium, and they held them to a goalless draw at the Lane. However, Spurs will be buoyed by the return of Aaron Lennon and Robbie Keane will be keen to put his midweek heartache behind him by rediscovering his scoring boots.

Spurs have lost just twice at home and Wigan have won just twice away. No wonder the Panel is seeing this as a stick-on home win.

Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic; Kick Off 3pm 22 Nov 2009

Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).

Dave Blackburn : 2 - 0
Chris Cox : 3 – 0
Graham Enwright : 2 - 1
Sue Gardener : TBC
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 1
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 3 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : TBC
Peter Lee : 2 - 0
Don McMahon : 2 - 1
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 2 - 0
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : 4 - 2
Dave Nash : 2 - 1
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 3 - 1
Peter Rendle : 2 - 0
Dan Taylor : 2 - 1
Andy Wakeman : 3 - 1
Isaac Williams : TBC
Mark Williams : 2 - 0

Panel Verdict

The majority of the Panel is going for a home win.

Home: 14; Draw: 1; Away: 0; TBC: 5.

* Do we have it right, or do you know better? Please don't bother with derisory comments on the predictions after the match - unless you also pulled us up before it!