Aston Villa v Wigan Athletic
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 29th December 2012, kick off3.00pm
Villa Park
Tickets
Tickets are available until 4pm Friday from the DW Stadium ticket office. Tickets will be available from Villa Park on the day of the game. [Click here] for full purchasing information.
Video Previews
Gary Caldwell spoke to Latics Player this week and reinforced the need to respect Saturday's opposition despite their recent heavy defeats. [Click here] to watch the video on Latics Player.
[Click here] to see the manager's thoughts ahead of the game.
Match Preview
Roberto Martinez takes his side to the Midlands looking to halt a run of three straight defeats and pick up a first win in six. Latics sole December point came in the 2-2 draw with QPR at the DW Stadium.
December has also been inconsistent for Aston Villa. Since their 3-1 win at Anfield in the middle of the month, they shipped eight goals at Stamford Bridge and four against Tottenham at Villa Park on Boxing Day.
A win for Latics on Saturday would see them leapfrog Villa in the Barclays Premier League table.
Team News
Paul Lambert is without Fabian Delph who picked up his fifth yellow card against Tottenham and serves a one-match ban. Villa also have doubts over Andreas Weimann (calf), Nathan Baker (hamstring), Charles N'Zogbia (knee) and Darren Bent (hamstring), while Gabriel Agbonlahor (thigh), Ron Vlaar (calf), Gary Gardner (knee), Richard Dunne (groin) and Stilyan Petrov (leukaemia) remain on the long term list.
Wigan Athletic could be set to welcome back Ivan Ramis which will give the manager a decision to make over who slots into the right wing-back role. Albert Crusat (knee), Adrian Lopez (hamstring), Ryo Miyaichi (ankle), Ben Watson (broken leg) and Antolin Alcaraz (groin) all remain sidelined.
The five yellow card amnesty passes on 31 January so if James McCarthy, Jean Beausejour and Maynor Figueroa need to avoid picking up bookings against Aston Villa on Saturday to avoid a one-match ban
Head to Head
There have been a total of 17 meetings between Villa and Latics and Villa have won eight on those, although three of those were in the League Cup in 1982 and 1994. In the Premier League it is a much closer affair with Villa winning five to Latics' four with five draws.
Last Six Meetings
25 Feb 12 - Premier League - Latics 0 Villa 0
01 Oct 11 - Premier League - Villa 2 Latics 0
07 May 11 - Premier League - Villa 1 Latics 1
25 Jan 11 - Premier League - Latics 1 Villa 2
16 Mar 10 - Premier League - Latics 1 Villa 2
15 Aug 09 - Premier League - Villa 0 Latics 2
Match Officials
Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistants: John Flynn and Darren England
4th Official: Howard Webb
Everyone Else
(Saturday at 15.00 unless stated)
Sunderland v Tottenham (12.45)
Fulham v Swansea
Man Utd v WBA
Norwich v Man City
Reading v West Ham
Stoke v Southampton
Arsenal v Newcastle
Everton v Chelsea (Sun 13.30)
QPR v Liverpool (Sun (16.00)