Bosnia And Herzegovina
Czech Republic
Hungary
Indonesia
South Africa
South Korea
United Arab Emirates

Preview: Wigan Athletic vs. Manchester United - prediction, team news, lineups

sportsmole.co.uk, 6 January 2024, 12:52
The DW Stadium will play host to an intriguing FA Cup third-round contest on Monday evening, with League One outfit Wigan Athletic welcoming English giants Manchester United.

Wigan famously won the FA Cup in 2012-13, beating Manchester City in the final, while Man United have lifted the trophy on 12 occasions, with their last success in the competition coming in 2015-16.

Match preview

Wigan will enter Monday's glamorous tie off the back of a 1-1 draw with Barnsley in League One, with Jonathan Smith cancelling out a first-half effort from Devante Cole, as the points were shared in South Yorkshire.

The result left the Latics in 17th position in the table, boasting 27 points from their 25 league games this season, and they started the campaign on minus eight points due to financial issues.

Shaun Maloney's side, who were relegated from the Championship last season, are four points above the relegation zone in League One and 13 points from the playoff positions, so it is going to take some effort in the second half of the campaign to put themselves in contention for possible promotion.

Wigan, who have beaten Exeter City and York City in the FA Cup this season, last tackled Man United in the fourth round of this competition in January 2017, suffering a 4-0 loss to the Red Devils, and they have actually been beaten by that scoreline in three of their last four games with the 20-time English champions.

The team's only victory over Man United was a 1-0 success at home in the Premier League in April 2012, but it would be fair to say that a lot has changed at both clubs since then, and Wigan have a recent FA Cup success to their name, lifting the trophy in 2012-13 by recording a 1-0 win over Man City in the final.

Man United, meanwhile, have lifted the FA Cup 12 times, with only Arsenal (14) winning the trophy on more occasions, and the Red Devils were last victorious in 2016, beating Crystal Palace 2-1 in the final.

Erik ten Hag's side reached the final of last season's competition, meanwhile, losing 2-1 to Man City, and this tournament represents their only realistic chance of winning silverware in 2023-24.

The 20-time English champions will enter this match off the back of a 2-1 loss to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, with the defeat proving to be their 14th in all competitions this term, and it left them down in eighth position in the table, some nine points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.

Man United finished bottom of their Champions League group, meanwhile, and there is no getting away from the fact that it has been a very difficult campaign for the club, but confirmation of the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe as a minority shareholder has seemingly lifted spirits at Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe visited Carrington last week, and it is understood that the staff and players were hugely impressed with the British billionaire, who will take over the football department once his arrival is ratified by the Premier League.

Man United will follow this match with a home game against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, and there will certainly be pressure on Ten Hag to deliver a positive result against Wigan, who will have home advantage but operate two divisions lower than their opponents.

Wigan Athletic FA Cup form:

W

W

Wigan Athletic form (all competitions):

D

L

L

L

W

D

Manchester United form (all competitions):

L

L

D

L

W

L

Advert - content below:

Team News

Wigan will be without the services of Tom Pearce and Jason Kerr for the contest through injury, while Stephen Humphrys and Scott Smith are major doubts for the home side.

There will also be no James Balagizi, with his loan spell from Liverpool coming to an end ahead of the match.

Josh Magennis has scored five times during the 2023-24 campaign and is set to lead the line, while there is also expected to be a spot in a wide area for the experienced Callum McManaman.

Man United will have goalkeeper Andre Onana available for this contest, and potentially for the league game with Tottenham next weekend, as he will not link up with Cameroon for the Africa Cup of Nations until the final moment.

Sofyan Amrabat, though, is joining up with Morocco for the tournament and will therefore not be available.

Man United's injury situation will ease in January, with Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez, Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Casemiro and Anthony Martial all expected to return in the near future, with the majority potentially available against Spurs next weekend.

Rasmus Hojlund missed out against Forest last time out due to illness, but the Denmark international is set to return to the squad for this match and is likely to lead the line.

Ten Hag is expected to name a strong side, with Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes all set to feature in advanced areas, while Scott McTominay could come back into the midfield.

Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:

Tickle; Clare, Hughes, Morrison, Sessegnon; Shaw, Adeeko; McManaman, Lang, Godo; Magennis

Manchester United possible starting lineup:

Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Evans, Dalot; McTominay, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund

We say: Wigan Athletic 1-3 Manchester United

Man United have been a difficult watch for most of this season, and goals have been hard to find, but the Red Devils should have too much for their League One opponents on Monday, especially as Ten Hag is expected to name a strong XI due to the importance of the FA Cup to the club this season.

Previews by email

Top News

16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Real Madrid will be bidding to book their spot in the knockout round of the Champions League when they welcome Manchester City to Bernabeu for the second leg of their playoff clash on Wednesday night. 16 February 2025 talksport.com The Premier League has two mouthwatering games on Sunday and talkSPORT has all the latest. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Taking a slender lead to San Siro, Feyenoord endeavour to finish the job on AC Milan when they reconvene for Tuesday's Champions League playoff second leg. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez has confirmed that he has undergone surgery on the severe knee injury that he suffered against Crystal Palace earlier this month. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Marcus Rashford is reportedly still hopeful of completing a 'dream switch' to Barcelona during this summer's transfer window. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United are reportedly prepared to make a €150m (£125m) move for Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez during this summer's transfer window. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk All transfer business is done and dusted for this season, but that doesn't stop clubs from preparing ahead for next season. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Hatayspor vs. Alanyaspor (Sunday, 10.30am) Round 24 of the 2024-25 Turkish Super Lig campaign pits relegation candidates Hatayspor against mid-table Alanyaspor at the Mersin Stadyumu on Sunday evening. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Nijmegen vs. Almere City (Sunday, 11.15am) Aiming to make it back-to-back wins and move closer to escaping the foot of the Eredivisie table, Almere City will travel to the Goffertstadion on Sunday to take on NEC. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Espanyol vs. Athletic Bilbao (Sunday, 1.00pm) Athletic Bilbao will be aiming to stretch their unbeaten run in La Liga to 15 matches when they head to Espanyol on Sunday. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Fiorentina vs. Como (Sunday, 11.30am) Top-four contenders Fiorentina will aim to boost their hopes of European qualification on Sunday, as they welcome Serie A strugglers Como to Stadio Franchi. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Werder Bremen vs. Hoffenheim (Sunday, 2.30pm) European hopefuls Werder Bremen will welcome relegation-threatened Hoffenheim to Weserstadion on Sunday in their 22nd Bundesliga game of the season. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Montpellier vs. Lyon (Sunday, 2.00pm) Looking to give their survival hopes a major boost, Montpellier HSC will welcome Champions League-chasing Lyon to Stade de la Mosson-Mondial 98 on Sunday afternoon for a Ligue 1 battle. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Hearts vs. Rangers (Sunday, 12.00pm) Hearts host Rangers in the Scottish Premiership this weekend, hoping to boost their chances of qualifying for European football next season. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool vs. Wolves (Sunday, 2.00pm) With or without Arne Slot on the touchline, Liverpool's pursuit of Premier League stardom when Wolverhampton Wanderers stop over at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool could face a difficult test at Anfield on Sunday against Wolverhampton Wanderers and will have to show improvements from last time out, Reds expert David Lynch has argued. 16 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Manchester United attacker Amad Diallo took to Instagram and confirmed he is set to be sidelined for some time after suffering an injury in training. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool centre-back Ibrahima Konate has hinted that he would be happy to stay at Anfield despite interest from Paris Saint-Germain. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Liverpool have reportedly accepted that goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher will leave in the summer transfer window, and are said to be willing to do business for a fee of £30-40m. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk The primary job of a goalkeeper is to keep the ball out of the back of their own net, but there are times, especially in the modern era, where we see some shot-stoppers contributing to goals at the right end of the pitch. 15 February 2025 talksport.com Arsenal might be struggling for strikers but one former wonderkid is loving life away from north London. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Arsenal should not give any thought to signing an "out of shape" free agent to solve their attacking shortage, Gunners expert Charles Watts has told Sports Mole. 15 February 2025 talksport.com Xabi Alonso continues to haunt his former employers Bayern Munich. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Despite being by far the better side, Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 0-0 draw with Bayern Munich at BayArena on Saturday in an anticlimactic six pointer in the Bundesliga title race. 15 February 2025 talksport.com Aaron Lennon believes Tottenham's clash against Manchester United could be a preview of the Europa League final. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Everton won their fourth Premier League match in five as they beat hosts Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park on Saturday evening. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick could make two changes to his XI for Monday's La Liga contest with Rayo Vallecano. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Barcelona will welcome Rayo Vallecano to Estadi Olímpic Lluis Companys on Monday night knowing that a victory would see them rise above Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid to the top of the La Liga table. 15 February 2025 sportsmole.co.uk Galatasaray will travel to face Caykur Rizespor at the Caykur Didi Stadium, aiming to maintain their lead at the top of the Turkish Super Lig table. 15 February 2025 talksport.com It takes a lot to shock Troy Deeney but Bournemouth star Justin Kluivert nearly rendered him speechless.
there is nothing here yet