Rob’s Prediction: Wigan v Middlesbrough

Owen Coyle’s Latics played Doncaster in Midweek and came away with a somewhat disappointing 2-2 draw. It was clear in the first half that Wigan Athletic were completely dominating. Out of the blue, Theo Robinson scored with an excellent low drive to give Doncaster the lead.

Cue a few minutes later as the game became slightly more settled and suddenly, Doncaster’s Brown pops up to head a good header past Scott Carson after poor play again from the Latics.

However, Owen Coyle tinkered with his team a bit and Marc Antoine Fortune’s arrival and a change in play formation meant Doncaster were under a lot of pressure and two clinical strikes from Shaun Maloney’s free kick and Leon Barnett’s crucial drive meant Wigan got a share of the spoils but Billy Paynter almost scored a dramatic winner as he hit the bar with a strike of his own, which would admittedly probably have been just as we were below par that night.

Now Wigan welcome Middlesbrough to the DW Stadium and we have a very poor record against Tony Mowbray’s men in recent times. We managed to acquire a 1-0 win, courtesy of an Antoine Siberski strike a few years ago, but our home record against Middlesbrough could be improved upon.

With Owen Coyle’s possible switch to 4-4-2 for this game, Middlesbrough could find themselves in a bit of a predicament to weather the storm when we play this way. I fully expect Owen to go with Marc-Antoine Fortune and Grant Holt up front.

In the middle, I expect Owen Coyle to perhaps play Jean Beausejour on the left, with a midfield of McCarthy and McCann in the centre and on the right, James McClean, who almost netted against Doncaster but was denied by Ross Turnbull, who was having a bit of a blinder for the away team.

At the back, I expect Stephen Crainey, Leon Barnett, Emerson Boyce and James Perch.

It will be a very difficult game against Middlesbrough and I do think that we will come away from this fixture with a well earned point which wouldn’t be a total disaster, but I’m not overly convinced we’ve found our best form yet. Over the season, I do think we’ll come good, sooner rather than later, but right now, we’re still feeling our way around!

UP THE LATICS

Robin’s Other Predictions
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Bolton v QPR – 1-2
Blackburn v Barnsley – 3-1
Blackpool v Reading – 0-1
Brighton v Burnley – 2-1
Charlton v Doncaster – 1-1
Huddersfield v Bournemouth – 2-2
Ipswich v Leeds – 1-2
Leicester v Birmingham – 3-0
Sheff Wed v Millwall – 2-0
Yeovil v Derby – 1-2
Watford v N. Forest – 2-1
Wigan v Middlesbrough – 1-1

See you all next time for Robin’s Prediction.

Robin’s Final Word
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Wins for Wigan and Huddersfield make the weekend sweet. Lets see it happen.