Wigan Athletic vs Norwich City: EFL Championship Match Preview
This coming Sunday, the first place Norwich City Canaries match up with Wigan Athletic at DW Stadium in Wigan, England. The Latics of Wigan Athletic are in desperate need of 3 points to stave off relegation, as they currently sit 21st, and would be relegated to League One as things stand (based on nasty circumstance of tiebreakers with Reading). Meanwhile, The Canaries sit at the top of the table, although that lead became a little bit less comfortable after a 2-2 draw with Reading on Tuesday 10 April 2019. Norwich will be looking to secure 3 more points in their campaign to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2016. This match features Finnish striker Teemu Pukki, who has scored a league leading 26 goals in 37 games for Norwich City this season. By comparison, Wigan’s top scored on the season Joe Garner has tallied this season just 7 times.
Wigan Athletic vs Norwich City Vital Information
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This match can be viewed on iFollow in the United States, and on Sky Sports and iFollow in the UK at 6:55 AM ET.
James Linington will be the referee in the middle of the park along with assistants Steven Meredith, Shaun Hudson. The fourth official will be Peter Bankes.
This will be the 12th meeting all time between Norwich City and Wigan Athletic In the previous 11 meetings, Norwich City has won 5 times, Wigan has won 2, and there have been 5 draws. It was The Canaries winning the most recent of those, 1-0, at Norwich City back on 29 September 2018.
Five Points That Shouldn’t be Overlooked
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The as stated above, Garner is Wigan’s leading scorer and only man in the top 50 in the EFL Championship. By comparison, Norwich city has 5 players in the top 50, all with 7 or more goals, including the above mention Pukki with the league lead. It could be a long day for Wigan goalkeeper Christian Walton.
Norwich City is 5-1-0 in their past 6 matches while Wigan Athletic is just 1-2-3. Norwich had won 8 in a row before the draw on Tuesday, and hasn’t lost since Wednesday 16 February 2019 at Preston North End. Wigan Athletic has won just 3 EFL Championship matches in the calendar year 2019.
Emi Buendiaof Norwich City was named the PFA Championship player of the month for March. He is the third consecutive Norwich player to win the award, after Pukki (February) and Mario Vrancic (January).
Keep an eye out for Reece James for Wigan, the loanee from Chelsea has been a standout this season, and expect to see him back in the Premier League next season.
Norwich City’s 84 goals scored this season is 40 more than Wigan Athletic’s 44. Wigan has also conceded 61 goals, compared with Wigan’s 50. This makes for a net difference in goal differential between the two teams of 51 in favor of Norwich.
Wigan Athletic vs Norwich City Prediction
Norwich had their first hiccup in quite some time with the draw against Reading on Wednesday, but midweek games have a habit of producing curious results. At the end of the day, Norwich just has too much firepower for Wigan, even at home, and will take this 3-1.
