Chelsea – Wigan 09.02.2013

With their top 4 place in danger after the defeat at St James Park, Chelsea have no choice but to try and return to winning ways against Wigan.

The Latics have been showing a lot of promise of late, and they arrive at Stamford Bridge hoping to continue their five-match unbeaten run on the travels.

Chelsea’s season has started going from bad to worse since the arrival of Rafael Benitez and I still don’t know what possessed Roman Abramovich to replace Roberto Di Matteo with the Spaniard. While the attacking department has improved a great deal since Demba Ba arrived from Newcastle and since Benitez realized that he could not do without Frank Lampard, Chelsea’s back line has been virtually non-existent of late, having conceded 7 goals in last 3 fixtures. The poor defensive showings look likely to continue now that Petr Cech is on the sidelines, but, on the other hand, the return of Eden Hazard should make the Blues even more ruthless up front. Having failed to win any of their last four games, Chelsea are expected to attack Wigan from the off and try to put the match beyond doubt as early as possible.

Wigan cannot seem to break away from the danger zone even if Roberto Martinez’s side are playing some very good football at the moment. The team have shown considerable improvement since losing to Sunderland 3-2 at home, having beaten Macclesfield in the FA Cup before recording 2-2 draws with Stoke and Southampton. Six goals scored in last three Premier League fixtures are enough to suggest that the Latics’ attack is in perfect working order, but their shaky back line is proving to be a major issue. Numerous injuries are definitely making life difficult for Roberto Martinez, but after avoiding defeat at their last five away games, Wigan should arrive at Stamford Bridge in very good spirits. That basically means they will not be afraid to attack their more illustrious opponents should the opportunity arise and we should, therefore, see a very open match.