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Wigan Athletic
is never an easy game at the best of times. Without a
league win so far, Spurs will find them difficult opponents,
who are settling into a more open style of play under the
management of Steve Bruce.
With Chris
Kirkland hoping to stake a claim in the England camp, he
will be looking for an impressive display in goal, but he
has made some bloopers before and his positioning sometimes
leaves question marks over this ability. The defence
has experience in the shape of Titus Bramble, Mario Melchiot
and Maynor Figueroa, the Honduran defender. Bramble is
prone to mistakes and Melchiot has seen better days, but
with Emmerson Boyce joining them, they have the benefit of
having played together for some time. Boyce could be
in for a torrid afternoon if Lennon is put up against him,
while Melchiot could have to face Bentley if Ramos picks two
comfortable wide men.
In Antonio
Valencia and Wilson Palacios,
Wigan have two wide men of their own. With Bale and
Corluka at full back, there should be enough pace to cover
them, but our wide midfielders will need to give support
coming back. Both Kevin Kilbane and Daniel De
Ridder can play wide midfield roles if required too, so
Bruce has some options wither in the starting line-up or
from the bench. Michael Brown might be in line for a
start against his old team, with Lee Cattermole being
sidelined after getting sent off last week. His hard
work and niggling presence might well disturb some of the
Spurs players who want time on the ball. The passing
and creation in this area of the Latics team might well come
from Jason Koumas, who has played in the top flight for a
while now with a couple of clubs and knows what it is about.
Oliver
Kapo has been brought in from Birmingham City, where the
manager took him to St; Andrews, where he was previously in
charge. A cultured passer, he proved problematical for
Tottenham last season, when he was fit. Someone lese
in the Wigan squad is Tomasz Kupisz, but I know little about
him.
Either
featuring in midfield, central defence or as the focal point
of the attack, Paul Scharner allows his versatility to give
Steve Bruce some choice in selection. Usually in
defence or attack, the Austrian is big and strong, with a
good scoring rate. Good at set-pieces, he will need to
be closely marked. The more likely pairing up front
could be big Emile Heskey and Amir Zaki. Heskey is
currently undergoing some sort of renaissance after his
showings for England, but we know what he is about as he
normally scores against us on a regular basis. He can
hold the ball up, is good in the air, strong in knocking
over defenders and knows where the goal is. The little
nippy Egyptian Zaki has a powerful shot and his two goals
against Hull announced him as a new arrival in the
Premiership to watch.
Spurs will no
doubt be without Ledley King and I can foresee Corluka being
deployed in the middle of the back four alongside Woodgate,
with Gunter getting the right back spot. The midfield
need to get their knees dirty and also be ready to spring
the ball forward for Roman and Darren.
With some
effort and hard work, I believe that the final score could
be ...
PREDICTION
: - Tottenham Hotspur 2 Wigan Athletic
1
For more information on
the opponents and their history, including full result history of
matches between the two teams, click
here.
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