There is one more Championship match before Christmas and it comes along on Monday night when Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers and Wigan Athletic meet in what is a key clash for both teams and their respective aims.
The visitors saw themselves drop to the foot of the table over the weekend but they will climb out of the bottom three with a win here. Blackburn will move level with sixth placed Brentford if they can come out on top of this one.
Blackburn Rovers
This has been a positive campaign all told for Blackburn Rovers although that is no surprise to us as we touted them as promotion contenders before a ball was kicked this season. They had a poor month in October but they have come out the other side and are one of the form teams in the league, having won five of their last six matches to allow themselves to latch onto the coattails of the top six, with a favourable run of fixtures to come.
The key to that has been getting some defensive players back to strengthen their ranks and as a result they have only conceded two goals in their last five matches, despite playing some decent attacking sides in Bristol City and Brentford. That is taking the pressure off them at the other end of the pitch and it is working nicely. With a Christmas period against teams in the bottom half there is an opportunity to establish themselves in the top six.
Wigan Athletic
The Latics are now bottom of the pile and one of the reasons for that is their hideous away form. That has been a trait of theirs ever since they returned to the second tier and they are still searching for their first win away from the DW Stadium this term. The other worrying trend that is showing no sign of ending is the insane number of goals they let in during the last five minutes of a match, a sign of a side who might not be as strong as they could be.
Wigan go into this match without a win in their last 10 matches and if anything the biggest concern of the lot is that their home form is beginning to fade away. That has been what has kept them in the division in recent times and if that disappears completely they are in trouble. They are the lowest scorers in the division now and that is going to have to change if they are going to keep their heads above water come the end of the campaign.
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Team News
The big news for Blackburn Rovers ahead of this match is that they will have Bradley Dack back from suspension. They could also have Derrick Williams to come back and strengthen their options defensively too.
Wigan also have a defender to call upon with Chey Dunkley returning from the suspension he picked up for his sending off at Luton recently. Kai Naismith could fall out again. Charlie Mulgrew is out and Kieffer Moore is a doubt.
Betting
I like Blackburn Rovers here. They have had their wobble and come out of it the other side and should be full of confidence heading into a game where if they are at their best they will come out on top quite comfortably. The truth is they might not need to be against a Wigan side who were visibly short on confidence when I saw them at Kenilworth Road a couple of weeks ago.
It isn’t just confidence they were short of. They lacked quality too and Blackburn have enough experience to set themselves up to negate the bit of pace that Wigan has and set about hurting them the other way. Rovers don’t lack for forward options and against a defence that is missing a couple of key figures the home side look worthy favourites to boost the Christmas beer fund at 4/5.
Tips
Back Blackburn Rovers to beat Wigan Athletic for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfred
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