Two sides fighting to secure their safety in the Championship will face off on Tuesday as Stoke City travel to the DW Stadium to take on Wigan Athletic.
Wigan currently sit five points clear of the drop zone in 17th, whereas Stoke are three places below the Latics and only one point above the bottom three after 39 matches.
Match preview
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Wigan continued their remarkable run of form with a 2-0 victory over promotion hopefuls Blackburn Rovers on Saturday – a result which moves them further away from the relegation zone at this crucial stage of the campaign.
Late goals from substitutes Lee Evans and Michael Jacobs stretched Wigan's unbeaten league run to eight matches and maintained their 100% record since the Championship resumed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Furthermore, Paul Cook's side have now gone six games without conceding a goal in the second tier and are well on course to remain in the division for a third consecutive season.
The three sides above Wigan in Birmingham City, Reading and Queens Park Rangers all failed to win last time out, and Cook's side are now within touching distance of the trio as the fight to avoid relegation to League One hots up.
A victory over Stoke this weekend would take the Latics to the 50-point mark for the season, and considering that Wigan managed to stay up with 52 points during the 2018-19 campaign, their survival prospects for this season are looking all the more promising with seven gameweeks remaining.
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In contrast, Stoke's hopes of survival were dealt a huge blow as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat to fellow strugglers Middlesbrough on home soil.
Neil Warnock enjoyed his first game in the Boro dugout as goals from Ashley Fletcher and Marcus Tavernier brought Stoke's five-game unbeaten run to an end and left the Potters teetering above the drop zone.
To add insult to injury, Michael O'Neill's misery was compounded when Nick Powell was sent off in the dying embers of the game after picking up two yellow cards in quick succession.
Stoke have amassed 43 points from 39 games this season and are only one clear of the bottom three at this stage, although O'Neill would have breathed a huge sigh of relief as 22nd-placed Huddersfield Town, who sit just one point behind the Potters, suffered a 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Nevertheless, the Potters continue to search for their first three points since the restart following a 1-1 draw with Reading upon the league's resumption, and they have not enjoyed victory on their travels since January.
However, Stoke did manage to record a 2-1 win over Wigan in the reverse fixture, with the forgotten man Mame Biram Diouf netting an injury-time winner for O'Neill's side back in November.
Wigan Athletic Championship form: WWWDWW
Stoke City Championship form: WDDWDL
Team News
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Cook has no fresh injury concerns heading into the midweek clash with Stoke.
Chey Dunkley is unlikely to play again this season with a broken leg, but Gavin Massey and Gary Roberts have a chance of being involved after missing out the win over Blackburn.
Evans and Jacobs are both pushing for starting roles following their goals last time out, while Leon Balogun was an unused substitute at the weekend and could play a part here.
As for Stoke, Powell's red card in the defeat to Middlesbrough means that the former Wigan man will not be able to return to the DW Stadium for the midweek clash.
Joe Allen remains out for O'Neill's side, but the Potters are hopeful of having Ryan Shawcross fit in time for the trip to the North West.
Young Danish midfielder Lasse Sorensen was hauled off before half-time in the defeat to Boro and may lose his place in the starting XI for this one.
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Marshall; Byrne, Kipre, Balogun, Robinson; Williams, Evans, Morsy; Lowe, Moore, Jacobs
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Butland; Smith, Batth, Shawcross, Martins Indi; Cousins, Clucas, Thompson; Ince, Vokes, McClean
We say: Wigan Athletic 2-0 Stoke City
Wigan are certainly not playing like a bottom-half side at the moment, and Stoke's confidence would have been rocked by their disappointing loss against Boro at the weekend, so we are backing the Latics to continue their terrific run of form with a comfortable home victory on Tuesday evening.
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Stoke City win with a probability of 37.35%. A win for Wigan Athletic had a probability of 35.67% and a draw had a probability of 27%.
The most likely scoreline for a Stoke City win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.38%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.13%) and 0-2 (6.59%). The likeliest Wigan Athletic win was 1-0 (10.09%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.81%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 2.6% likelihood.
