The major question ahead of tour big season kick off is surrounding Victor Moses. The talented young winger has been heavily linked with this weekend’s opponents Chelsea and the will he , won’t he saga over his possible transfer.
It is still unclear which shirt Moses will be wearing at the weekend, of if indeed he will be left out the contest altogether.
Moses aside it has been a good summer for the Latics. We’ve added strength at the back with Ivan Ramis, more youthful exuberance to our midfield with Fraser Fyvie, and an exciting attacking duo of Ryo Myaichi and Arouna Kone from Arsenal and Levante respectively.
With the Moses saga likely to rumble on right up until the close of the window, the additions of Myaichi and Kone have helped reassure fans that we can build on the successful close to last season. Kone in particular managed fifteen goals in La Liga last season and Latics fans will be hoping he can get his first goal for the club on Sunday.
Also pushing for a place will be Jordi Gomez. The Spanish playmaker has had a strong pre-season and with his set piece specialism the former Espanyol playmaker will be interesting value for the first goal.
Chelsea are never to be underestimated but we have run them close before at home. The Blues were our first ever opponents in the Premier League when Hernan Crespo’s last minute wonder goal sunk our hearts.
We’ve come a long way since that day and at the tail end of last term we managed a fantastic seven wins from our closing nine games. Given John Terry’s absence for Chelsea we’ll certainly be good value for a shock win on Sunday.
Score prediction: 1-0 Wigan, Di Santo.
Expected line up: Al-Habsi, Caldwell, Ramis, Alcaraz, Beausejour, Boyce, McCarthy, McArthur, Maloney, Gomez, Di Santo.