Wigan Athletic v Stoke City Preview

  The Potters today make the short-ish trip North to face Wigan for the first time since February 2005, the scoreline that day, a 1-0 Stoke victory (Gifton Noel Williams with the only goal),  a scoreline that would more than satisfy the close to 4,000 Stoke fans expected to make the trip.

  The fortunes of the two clubs have been contrasting since that day, Wigan going on to gain promotion to the Premier League that season, with a second place finish behind Sunderland, before enjoying a hugely successful first season in the top flight, finishing tenth. The 2006/07 season was somewhat tougher for the Latics though, avoiding relegation on the final day of the season on goal difference by just one goal. Popular manager Paul Jewell then quit the club, to the surprise of many, his assistant Chris Hutchings taking the reins for the start of the 2007/08 campaign. A poor start saw him sacked almost a year ago to the day, to be replaced by Birmingham boss Steve Bruce, who guided the Latics to a comfortable fourteenth place finish.

  Stoke on the other hand, put in a lukewarm twelth place finish in the Championship four years ago, before a change of managers, Tony Pulis being replaced by Johan Boskamp that summer. A season of controversy came next, with feuds within the management and rumours that the Icelandic owners were on the way out. After a thirteenth place finish, and the club being sold back to former owner Peter Coates, Pulis was re-appointed. Unexpected success followed, with a eighth place finish he next season, and promotion as runners up coming this May.

  The Potters currently sit twelfth in the premier league with Wigan two points and five places behind in seventeenth. Despite all that has happened to the two clubs since the last meeting, Stoke go into today’s match as equals, and on the back of some excellent form optimism that a result can be gained today is high.

  Both sides have no new injury worries ahead of the game at the JJB Stadium, Wigan captain Mario Melchiot expected to return after illness and Stoke expected to name an unchanged side from last Saturday’s victory over Arsenal with long-term outs Liam Lawrence and Andrew Davies the only players unavailable.

Wigan squad:

Name                        Age                 Position              Wigan appearances

Chris Kirlkland          27                 Goalkeeper                      75

Ryan Taylor               24                  Defender                        52

Erik Edman               29                   Defender                        5

Lee Cattermole         20                   Midfielder                      11

Wilson Palacios        24                   Midfielder                      29

Paul Scharner           28                   Defender                        86

Kevin Kilbane           31                   Midfield                         76

Emile Heskey           30                   Forward                         78

Jason Koumas          29                   Midfield                         43

Michael Brown         31                   Midfield                         39

Mike Pollitt              36                   Goalkeeper                    39

Amr Zaki                 25                   Forward                          12

Luis A. Valencia      23                   Midfield                          66

Emerson Boyce       29                   Defence                          73

Daniel De Ridder    24                   Midfield                           8

Titus Bramble         27                   Defence                          38

Tomasz Cywka       20                  Midfielder                         1

Richard Kingson     30                  Goalkeeper                       0

Olivier Kapo           28                   Midfielder                       10

Mario Melchiot      32                    Defender                        43

Henri Camara        31                    Forward                          64

Tomasz Kupisz     18                    Forward                           1

Mayror Figueroa   25                    Defence                           14

 

Star man:

Amr Zaki

The burly 25 year old Egyptian forward joined Wigan on a year long loan deal from El Zamalek in his homeland in the summer and has since proved a revelation, scoring nine goals in twelve appearances, including a stunning overhead kick against Liverpool at Anfield. He has played 48 times for his homeland, scoring 29 goals.

                                                    

2008/09 comparison stats:

                                                          Wigan                Stoke

Played                                                  13                     13

Won                                                      5                       5

Drawn                                                  2                        2

Lost                                                     6                        6

Home record (W,D,L)                         2,1,3                  4,1,2

Away record (W,D,L)                          3,1,3                  1,4,1 

Goals scored                                       21                      18

Goals conceded                                  17                       23

League position                                  17                      12

Disciplinary (Y,R)                               19,2                    24,1