Blackpool vs Wigan Prediction

Form check

Blackpool's wider sample shows seven wins, three draws and ten losses from their last twenty matches across competitions, with 28 scored and 33 conceded. That's not a flattering overall return, but the shape of it has improved lately. Their most recent league outings include wins over Milton Keynes Dons, Leyton Orient and Cambridge United, which suggests some momentum building into this one.

Blackpool: 20 completed matches; Wigan: 20 completed matches.

Blackpool

20 matches

Win

30% 6 / 20

Draw

15% 3 / 20

Loss

55% 11 / 20

Scored

28

Conceded

37

Difference

-9

Wigan

20 matches

Win

25% 5 / 20

Draw

15% 3 / 20

Loss

60% 12 / 20

Scored

19

Conceded

29

Difference

-10

Wigan's equivalent sample reads five wins, four draws and eleven losses, with only 18 goals scored against 27 conceded. That's a tougher overall picture. Their last three matches have been a loss at Oxford, a narrow home win over Reading and an away win at Stevenage, so there's been some fight in there, but the defeats have piled up more often than the wins.

Blackpool's recent trend looks a touch more convincing than Wigan's, even if neither record is strong.

Comparative Team Statistics: Blackpool vs Wigan

Head-to-head

These two have met regularly down the years, including across the Championship and League One, and the recent meetings have mostly been close. The last several league clashes have produced draws and single-goal margins rather than anything one-sided. An EFL Trophy meeting back in September did end 3-2 to Wigan, but that was a cup tie rather than a league fixture.

Looking further back there have been some wider scorelines in both directions, but nothing from those older games tells us much about how either side is playing now.

Where they sit

Blackpool are currently 20th with eight points from nine games, while Wigan sit 24th with seven points from the same number of matches. Both have won twice, and Wigan's two extra defeats compared to Blackpool's five help explain the gap. It's a tight picture between two sides who haven't found much consistency yet this season.

Players to watch

Blackpool's D. Charles has been involved in the goals, picking up two assists in seven appearances this season, so he's clearly playing a creative role when selected. For Wigan, J. Carragher has picked up three yellow cards in six matches without a red, which points to a player who's been in the thick of things defensively or in midfield.

Blackpool:

Best assist providers:

D. Charles - 2

Wigan:

Penalty cards:

J. Carragher x 3

These are partial snapshots rather than full squad pictures, so they're worth noting rather than leaning on heavily.

How this one might go

Put together, this looks like a match between two sides who are struggling for consistency rather than one with a clear favourite. Blackpool's recent home form has picked up, but their overall numbers this season and in the longer sample are still shaky. Wigan have shown they can win on the road, just not often enough to trust blindly.

The head-to-head record backs up the idea that these are usually tight contests, which fits with where both teams currently sit in the table.