Preview: Wigan Athletic vs. Coventry City – prediction, team news, lineups

Wigan Athletic will be looking to record a much-needed victory in their fight for survival when they host Coventry City at the DW Stadium on Tuesday night in the Championship.

The Latics endured a difficult afternoon at the home of league-leaders Burnley on Saturday, whereas Coventry were held at home against Hull City as their playoff push took a blow.

Match preview

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Wigan remain in serious danger of being relegated from the second tier this term after a 3-0 defeat at Turf Moor against Vincent Kompany‘s rampant Clarets, with a brace from Nathan Tella and a Lyle Foster strike condemning the visitors to their 18th loss of the campaign.

The red card picked up by Omar Rekik after just 28 minutes gave the visiting Latics little chance of earning any tangible reward for their efforts, with Shaun Maloney‘s men being limited to just two shots over the duration of the match, compared to Burnley’s 27.

Boss Maloney will realise however their fate this season will not be decided by matches against the likes of Burnley, although his men need to start picking up regular wins to claw back some of their relegation rivals.

Wigan are currently bottom of the Championship table with 32 points, six points behind Cardiff City in 21st – and having collected just six points in their last seven matches, the size of the survival task is there for all to see.

The DW Stadium has been a relatively fruitful location for Wigan of late, with the Latics on a three-game unbeaten run in front of their home faithful, but anything other than a win on Tuesday would not help their aim of avoiding the drop.

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Coventry extended their unbeaten run in the Championship to seven matches with a 1-1 draw against Hull on Saturday afternoon in the West Midlands, with a Matt Godden goal cancelling out Oscar Estupinan‘s opener for the visiting Tigers.

The Sky Blues will be pleased with the way they avoided defeat last time out, but with the chances they created, Mark Robins‘s men will be ruing a missed opportunity to gain further ground on the top-six positions.

With both West Bromwich Albion and sixth-placed Millwall winning on Saturday afternoon, Coventry are now in ninth in the second-tier standings, four points behind the playoffs with just 10 games left to play.

After a significant dip in form during January, no one expected Robins’s side to be mounting a playoff push this term, yet the Sky Blues could be a surprise package considering their favourable schedule between now and May.

Viktor Gyokeres provided the assist for Godden’s equaliser on Saturday, and the Swede now has 24 goal contributions in the Championship this campaign – more than any other player.

Wigan Athletic Championship form:

Coventry City Championship form:

Team News

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Wigan will be without defender Rekik for the visit of Coventry after the 21-year-old was sent off at Turf Moor on Saturday – Steven Caulker is expected to take his place in the starting XI.

Thelo Aasgaard has impressed during substitute appearances at West Brom and Burnley over the past week, with the Norwegian pushing for a place in the starting side at the DW on Tuesday.

Coventry youngster Ryan Howley started a second-straight Championship match on Saturday against Hull, but the 19-year-old could be rested here, with Brooke Norton-Cuffy a candidate to come into the side.

Josh Wilson-Esbrand and Jack Burroughs could be in line for starts if Robins opts to freshen up his options at wing-back, with Jake Bidwell and Fankaty Dabo potentially making way.

Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Amos; Darikwa, Hughes, Caulker, Nyambe; Naylor, Power, Keane, Magennis; Fletcher, Lang

Coventry City possible starting lineup:
Wilson; McNally, McFadzean, Doyle; Dabo, Eccles, Hamer, Bidwell, Norton-Cuffy; Gyokeres, Godden

We say: Wigan Athletic 0-2 Coventry City

Wigan are enduring an awful run of form just at the time when they need wins to keep themselves in the Championship, and they now welcome one of the league’s most-potent attackers to the DW in the form of Gyokeres.

The Sky Blues will be disappointed to have not taken all three points against Hull on Saturday, and we expect them to take that frustration out on a stuttering Latics side on Tuesday night.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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