Preview: Wigan Athletic vs. West Bromwich Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Two sides at opposite ends of the Championship meet on Wednesday when West Bromwich Albion travel to face Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium.

The Baggies are flying high at the top of the division, while Wigan find themselves languishing in 22nd place.

Match preview

Following an impressive eight-year stay in the Premier League, hallmarked by remarkable late escapes from relegation, Wigan are now a team that oscillates between the second and third division of English football.

Between 2014 and 2018, the Latics were relegated to League One twice and then promoted straight back to the Championship on both occasions - a notion that highlights Wigan as something of a 'yoyo club'.

Despite managing to avoid a third relegation to League One last season, finishing in 18th place, Wigan's failure to claim results this season puts them in real danger of the drop.

Yet to win an away game and with only 18 goals in 20 outings, the second lowest behind Middlesbrough, it is clear that, ahead of the second half of the season, something needs to change for Paul Cook's side.

Beating the league leaders in front of their own fans on Wednesday would certainly serve as a galvanising influence on this depleted Wigan side, who are now without a win in eight games.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have a West Brom side that does not look like losing and seems almost destined to make a return to the Premier League after finishing third in the Championship last term.

Sunday's 5-1 win over Swansea City was the club's sixth straight victory and added to a run of 10 games without a defeat for Slaven Bilic's side.

Indeed, that there were five different scorers on Sunday highlighted how this is a West Brom team built on an admirable collectivist approach, always attacking and defending as one unit.

Along with an impressive amount of defensive organisation, West Brom are by far and away the top scorers in the division with 41 goals in 20 games - eight more than their closest competitor.

As they prepare for a trip to face Wigan, most people will be expecting the Midlands side to rack up another glut of goals against the relegation candidates.

Recent Wigan Athletic form: LLLDLL
Recent West Bromwich Albion form: WWWWWW

Team News

Wigan duo Danny Fox, Joe Williams and David Marshall are all definitely out for this game due to various injuries picked up over the past couple of weeks.

Chey Dunkley is also out for this game after picking up two yellow cards in Wigan's most recent game.

West Brom, on the other hand, are blessed by the fact that they have no injury concerns to worry about.

As a result, Bilic will want to unleash the likes of Matt Phillips, Grady Diangana, Matheus Pereira and Hal Robson-Kanu.

Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Jones; Sterling, Kipre, Mulgrew, Robinson; Macleod, Morsy, Pilkington, Lowe; Moore, Garner

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; Ferguson, Bartley, Ajayi, Gibbs; Sawyers, Livermore; Phillips, Pereira, Diangana; Robson-Kanu

We say: Wigan Athletic 0-3 West Bromwich Albion

When you have one team that has lost five of its last six games against a side with six wins on the bounce, there is only one conceivable outcome. Expect West Brom to have an enjoyable evening in front of goal against a side that is bereft of confidence.

body check tags ::