Match Preview: Manchester United vs Wigan Athletic

Gameweek 4 finally arrives this weekend after the boring international break and the 19 times champions of England host Roberto Martínez’s Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford this Saturday afternoon. This game will be the biggest test for Wigan this season so far. Their manager has blamed the fixtures for the poor run of the club thus far in this season.

As said by him about the international break: “I don’t like the international break, I’ve said it many, many times”. This is another example. We’ve got 48 hours to go to one of the biggest games of our league competition and we don’t even know what kind of squad we can count on. That’s for ourselves, that’s for Manchester United. As a whole, I don’t think that’s a healthy position for any team to be in when trying to put on a good display for the fans in what we consider to be the best league in the world” – he further added.

The player of interest at United is Tom Cleverley at the moment since the time he represented England for the friendlies. However, he lacked composure in front of the goal in England’s 1-1 draw against Ukraine in the world cup qualifiers.

“Tom can be a great player,” were the words of Nicky Butt. “His ability is there for everyone to see. He’s a phenomenal young footballer and he’s at the right club to develop, with the right manager, the right coaches and the right players around him. He’s one of those players who can go on to great things but he needs a good run in the team and to get used to playing week in and week out for a massive club. He needs a good season where he plays 30 or 35 games. He had a few injuries in his early days, but he’s got to a level now where he needs to get games under his belt.”

Even United were not spared from the international break. They have concerns over Robin van Persie and Sjinji Kagawa after both picked up knocks during their international duty. United are reportedly placing Van Persie under a 48-hour assessment, with the club going for a safety-first policy, thanks to lengthy injury history. While Ashley Young (knee) is also doubtful. Phil Jones (knee), Wayne Rooney (leg), Chris Smalling (foot) as well as Johnny Evans are certain to be excluded as well. Wigan have doubts over Jean Beausejour (hamstring).

However, on a positive note, Wigan Athletic manager will be able to call on the services of key midfielder James McArthur against Manchester United, after the Scotland star was ruled out during the international break with a back injury. On the other hand, Manchester United have to scratch their head in the defensive skills since both of their last matches have been narrow victories of 3-2 against Southampton and Fulham after suffering a defeat of 1-0 at the hands of Everton in their opening gameweek.

Wigan Athletic head into the fixture at Old Trafford in better form than their points total might suggest. However they have never beaten United at home in the Barclays Premier League so far. In spite of losing 0-2 at home to Chelsea on the opening Premier League weekend, the Latics had more possession than the Blues and more than double the amount of total shots. However, they were unable to convert their chances where it really mattered. Away to Southampton, they punished the Saints for their wasteful finishing and took advantage of their defensive mishaps to record a clinical 2-0 win. In the 2-2 draw at home to Stoke City, Roberto Martinez would’ve been quite disappointed not to get three points and be content with just one.

It should be a closer match than some predict primarily due to the absence of Van Persie and Wayne Rooney, but the Red Devils will seemingly have too much quality on the wings and in attack for their visitors to handle with Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck likely to pair up at the front.