Wigan Athletic v Sunderland
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 19 January, kick off 3.00pm
DW Stadium
Match Preview
Wigan Athletic welcome Sunderland to the DW Stadium this Saturday in another crucial Barclays Premier League encounter. Favourable results elsewhere and a win for Roberto Martinez would see Latics ease away from the bottom three.
Latics produced another good performance at Craven Cottage last Saturday to earn a valuable point while Sunderland cruised past West Ham United in what was probably their best win of the season.
Team News
Roberto Martinez suffered a devastating blow during the game against Fulham by losing Ivan Ramis for a second time this season. The Spaniard suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in a challenge with Dimitar Berbatov late in the game ruling the 29 year old for the remainder of the season. Ramis joins Adrian Lopez (hamstring), Ben Watson (broken leg) and Albert Crusat (knee) on the long term injury list. The manager has indicated in recent weeks that Antolin Alcaraz is fully fit but just needs to regain his 'match fitness,' therefore he may be forced into bring the Paraguayan back into the team this weekend.
Head to Head
It's neck and neck in terms of league meetings between the two side with six wins each and seven draws in total. Latics one win in the FA Cup tips the head to head balance in Latics' favour.
Last Five Meetings
29 Sep 2012 - Premier League - Sunderland 1 Latics 0
03 Jan 2012 - Premier League - Latics 1 Sunderland 4
27 Nov 2011 - Premier League - Sunderland 1 Latics 2
23 Apr 2011 - Premier League - Sunderland 4 Latics 2
11 Sep 2010 - Premier League - Latics 1 Sunderland 1
Last League Line Ups
Wigan Athletic (v Fulham [A] D1-1): A Al Habsi, G Caldwell, I Ramis (R Stam, 89), M Figueroa, D Jones (J Gomez, 66), E Boyce, J Beausejour, J McArthur , J McCarthy, F Di Santo, S Maloney
Subs not used: M Pollitt, C McManaman, R Golobart, A Henriquez, M Boselli
Sunderland (v West Ham [H] W3-0): S Mignolet, T Bramble, C Gardner, J O'Shea, J Colback, S Larsson, A Johnson (A N'Diaye, 84), J McClean, D Vaughan, S Fletcher (C Wickham, 79), S Sessegnon (J McFadden, 89).
Subs not used: P Bardsley, M Kilgallon, K Westwood, F Campbell
Match Officials
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Assistant Referees: Jake Collin & Simon Long
4th Officials: Mike Jones
Everyone Else
(Saturday 3pm unless stated)
Liverpool v Norwich
Man City v Fulham
Newcastle v Reading
Swansea v Stoke
West Ham v QPR
West Brom v Aston Villa (5.30pm)
Cheslea v Arsenal (1.30pm Sunday)
Tottenham v Man Utd (4.00pm Sunday)
Southampton v Everton (8.00pm Monday)