Wigan Athletic vs Stoke City: Wigan looking to stay out of the drop zone
Wigan know they are in a relegation scrap now - and will they keep faith with their young manager, or take the option that Blackburn did last season when they ditched Paul Ince for the more grizzled relegation scrapper, Sam Allardyce? It would be a shame as Roberto Martinez has instilled an attractive playing style - but 16th is 16th and Wigan could be in the relegation zone on Wednesday night. Stoke have moved serenely from odds on relegation candidates 18 months ago into solid mid-table citizens and a well managed and funded club will already be planning for an unheralded challenge for a top six finish next season.
Wigan Athletic vs Stoke City; Kick Off 7:45pm 09 Feb 2010
Prediction Panel
Our panel contains both Squarefootball writers and readers, the writers are marked: (sqf).
Dave Blackburn : 0 - 0
Chris Cox : 2 - 2
Graham Enwright : 2 - 1
Sue Gardener : 0 - 0
Chris Goodwin : 1 - 2
Paul Grech (sqf) : TBC
Colin Illingworth (sqf) : 2 - 1
Hugh Larkin (sqf) : 2 - 1
Peter Lee : 1 - 2
Don McMahon : 0 - 1
Antony Melvin (sqf) : 1 - 0
Paul O'Meara (sqf) : TBC
Dave Nash : 1 - 0
Stephen Orford (sqf) : TBC
Tony Ratton : 2 - 2
Peter Rendle : 0 - 0
Dan Taylor : 1 - 2
Andy Wakeman : 2 - 1
Isaac Williams : TBC
Mark Williams : 0 - 0
Panel Verdict
The panel is completely split; and although a Wigan win is fancied more than a Stoke win - a 0-0 draw is the consensus. No-one is expecting a lot of goals.
Home: 6; Draw: 6; Away: 4; TBC: 4.
* 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!
