Manchester United vs. Wigan Preview

Premier League

Football
Published: 21/12/2011

Manchester United will continue their exciting pursuit of arch rivals Manchester City at the summit of the Barclays Premier League when they host struggling Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford on Boxing Day.

Interestingly, but for the Manchester derby clash in which City ran out devastating 1-6 winners, United would be holding a slender lead over Roberto Mancini’s men leading into the festive period, however that encounter proved to be so much more than the mere three points which were at stake.

A series of flat and uninspiring performances have followed that derby day trouncing for the Red Devils and their poor form culminated in them being dumped out of the Champions League at the hands of FC Basle.

Ferguson has worked miracles to grind out results domestically despite the team looking far weaker than those who have represented the club in recent years.

The high level of quality, attacking football which his side have been renowned for has, in the main, been absent this campaign whilst City, by contrast, have smashed in a stunning fifty goals in just sixteen Premier League games.

United will have the perfect opportunity on Boxing Day to rediscover their firepower and presence against a Wigan outfit who look extremely vulnerable and weak away from home.

Roberto Martinez continues to reap the plaudits for what he has achieved during his short career at Wigan however it is hard to get away from the fact that the praise seems to be arising purely because of his age and inexperience.

Although his attitude and footballing morals appear to be spot on, in truth he has failed to initiate progress at the club despite spending a great deal of money during his tenure. With just thirteen points beside their name, Wigan currently sit in 18th place and are heading towards another relegation scrap.

After conceding around two goals per game, it is clear that Martinez’s intentions will be to shore up his back line and attempt to provide the team with a degree of stability.

It is certainly not for Martinez’s want of trying, however his current crop of players are simply not consistently good enough to compete or put up a stern resistance away from home. This should be an extremely easy three points for United and a welcome Christmas gift after a tough few months.

It is definitely too early to write Fergie’s boys off and their recent display at QPR, where they triumphed 0-2, was probably their best of the season to date despite wasting a plethora of chances.

A wealth of opportunities are likely to come United’s way in this fixture and it could be a landslide if everything clicks into gear and Wayne Rooney manages to find his goal scoring boots.

1/5 is no price whatsoever for the home side but double figure odds of around 10/1 and 12/1 will be available about a 3-0 and 4-1 drubbing and that looks just about the right route to take from a betting perspective.

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Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (21/12/2011) but are subject to change.

21/12/2011     © Frixo 2024

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