Stoke v Wigan 19:45
Stoke have been one of the best teams in the league defensively this season, but will need to return to that form to halt a run which has seen them concede ten goals in their last three Premier League games.
The most recent defeat was a 3-1 loss against Swansea, in which Michael Owen scored a late consolation goal.
Robert Huth has been at the centre of Stoke’s best defensive work this season. Huth is ranked third overall for defensive contributions this season with 238 across tackles won, interceptions, clearances and blocks. That means Huth interrupts an opposition attack every 9 minutes and 35 seconds on average.
Jonathan Walters’ season may be remembered for his nightmare performance against Chelsea which saw him score two own goals and miss a penalty, but in fact Walters should be credited as one of the most consistently hard working players in the league. Walters has covered 141.46 miles this season, the fourth highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index. He has been Stoke’s hardest worker in 12 of their 23 league games this season.
Walters has also done more defensively than any other striker in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with 77 defensive contributions across tackles won, clearances, interceptions and blocks. 888sport.com have Walters at an industry best price of 6/1 to buck his recent run of bad luck and score first against Wigan.
Wigan were unfortunate to lose 3-2 against Sunderland in their last league game, to make it three games without a win for the Latics.
Ronnie Stam’s shot forced a Sunderland own goal for the first, while Angel Henriquez hit the second. Henriquez is an industry best price of 9/1 with 888sport.com to make it two goals in two games and score first against Stoke.
Stam has delivered more crosses per minute on the pitch than any other player in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index with one every 18 minutes and 18 seconds, 42 crosses in total.
James McArthur covered the most ground for the Latics in that game with 7.08 miles, the 7th time in 8 games he has topped his team’s charts for ground covered and taking his total mileage for the season to 104.39 miles.
Jean Beausejour has been a constant threat this season delivering 87 crosses so far, the second highest in the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index and just one behind the league’s top performer Leighton Baines who has delivered 88 crosses