Wigan Athletic and Stoke City meet in the Championship on Wednesday, with both sides looking to get back to winning ways and avoid ending the night in the relegation zone.
At the moment, both teams sit two points clear of the bottom three after each putting together losing runs in the division.
Stoke City can claim to be in better form than Wigan Athletic, who have lost four matches in a row and suffered si defeats in seven games.
Wigan have quickly from marginal contenders for the playoffs to candidates for relegation, and Leam Richardson knows that this game is their most important of the season so far.
After losing a late Watford goal at the weekend, Wigan now possess the worst home record in the division, picking up just six points from nine games.
In addition, just six goals have been scored at the DW Stadium, and there is an urgency to improve that record at a time when 14 goals have been conceded in seven games.
When Alex Neil arrived a the bet365 Stadium at the end of August, he was expected to get the most out of the talented squad and turn their fortunes around.
However, he has recorded just three wins from 11 matches, suffering defeats in the last three to leave his side close to the relegation zone.
Although the Potters currently occupy 19th place, they are just five points clear of bottom-placed West Bromwich Albion, a consequence of losing 3-1 at Norwich City at the weekend.
The only positive from the trip to East Anglia was Nick Powell, who has recently returned from injury, and Stoke now face four fixtures against teams currently no higher that ninth in the division, and Neil will appreciate that he can ill-afford more defeats at this stage of his reign.
Wigan Athletic vs Stoke City head to head
These two teams have previously met on 29 occasions across all competitions, where Wigan have claimed eight victories while Stoke have won nine, and they have drawn in 12. Stoke have scored 36 goals and conceded 41. In their last five meetings, Stoke have won three while Wigan have won two.
Wigan Athletic 0-1 Stoke City 13/08/19
Stoke City 2-1 Wigan Athletic 23/11/19
Wigan Athletic 3-0 Stoke City 30/06/20
Wigan Athletic 2-1 Stoke City 27/07/21
Stoke City 2-0 Wigan Athletic 05/02/22
Wigan Athletic latest home form
Wigan Athletic have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just one of their nine most recent matches. They were beaten 1-0 by Watford in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored three goals and conceded nine.
Wigan Athletic 0-1 Reading 17/09/22
Wigan Athletic 1-3 Cardiff City 08/10/22
Wigan Athletic 1-0 Blackburn Rovers 11/10/22
Wigan Athletic 1-4 Middlesbrough 19/10/22
Wigan Athletic 0-1 Watford 29/10/22
Wigan Athletic latest away form
Wigan Athletic have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having lost each of their three most recent matches. They lost 2-1 to QPR in their last away game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and also conceded seven.
Huddersfield Town 1-2 Wigan Athletic 13/09/22
Rotherham United 0-2 Wigan Athletic 01/10/22
Hull City 2-1 Wigan Athletic 05/10/22
Sunderland 2-1 Wigan Athletic 15/10/22
Queens Park Rangers 2-1 Wigan Athletic 22/10/22
Stoke City latest home form
Stoke City have recently failed to keep a good run of form at home, having won just one of their seven most recent matches. They lost 2-0 to Coventry City in their last home game in the league. In their last five matches, they have scored four goals and conceded nine.
Stoke City 1-1 Swansea City 31/08/22
Stoke City 0-4 Watford 02/10/22
Stoke City 3-1 Sheffield United 08/10/22
Stoke City 0-1 Rotherham United 18/10/22
Stoke City 0-2 Coventry City 22/10/22
Stoke City latest away form
Stoke City lost 3-1 to Norwich City in their last away game in the league. However, they have recently been on a relatively good run of form on the road, having been unbeaten in their previous four games. In their last five matches, they have scored seven goals and conceded four.
Hull City 0-3 Stoke City 13/09/22
Queens Park Rangers 0-0 Stoke City 17/09/22
Burnley 1-1 Stoke City 05/10/22
Preston North End 0-2 Stoke City 15/10/22
Norwich City 3-1 Stoke City 29/10/22
Wigan Athletic news
Wigan Athletic will take to the pitch without Graeme Shinnie after the midfielder collected his fifth yellow card of the season at the weekend.
Tom Naylor appears most likely to be brought into the midfield in his spot, while Josh Magennis is pushing for a recall in attack for this contest.
Stoke City news
Alex Neil will most likely have to make changes to his Stoke City with Nick Powell in line for his first start since his return from injury.
Liam Delap and Jordan Thompson are also in contention, while Aden Flint may be recalled to the backline ahead of Phil Jagielka or Harry Clarke.
Prediction and Odds
Given their recent losing runs in the Championship, this could prove to be a tough game with confidence getting lower by the game.
We have a feeling that a share of the spoils is the most likely outcomes, with both managers likely to be satisfied with a point on Wednesday.
Odds: 1 2.22 X 2.05 2 2.30
Probable outcomes
Wigan Athletic 0-0 Stoke City
Wigan Athletic 1-1 Stoke City
Wigan Athletic 2-2 Stoke City
Wigan Athletic 1-0 Stoke City
Wigan Athletic 2-1 Stoke City
