Following their promotion back to England’s second tier last season, Wigan Athletic have made a positive start to the new term and remain undefeated thus far, having firstly played out a goalless draw with Preston North End.
Leam Richardson’s side then earned a creditable point away at newly-relegated Norwich City, as James McClean’s early opener was cancelled out by Max Aarons, before playing out a third league draw on the spin against Bristol City thanks to Nick Powell’s second-half equaliser.
Their scheduled trip to Coventry City was then postponed, but the Latics would return to action last Saturday away at Birmingham City and post a first league win of the season.
The Lancashire outfit appeared to be on the back foot as they were fighting with 10 men from the 10th minute, as a result of Joe Bennett’s red card, but they fought to stay level and would eventually snatch all three points as Nathan Broadhead netted the only goal eight minutes from time.
Having defied the odds to win that game and stay unbeaten with six points from four games, Richardson’s men will fight to extend their pleasing start to the campaign on Saturday but face a tough test.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Burnley find themselves hoping to arrest a four-game winless run in the Championship following their relegation last season.
The Clarets began life back in the second tier under the new management of Vincent Kompany, and they quickly put three points on the board in the opening round of games, beating Huddersfield Town 1-0 away from home thanks to Ian Maatsen’s goal in a dominant display.
They have been unable to build any momentum since that opening-day triumph, though, firstly having to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Luton Town before being beaten 1-0 away at fellow promotion-hopefuls Watford and held to a draw at home to Hull City.
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In their most recent Championship outing last Saturday, the Clarets hosted Blackpool, and they looked set to stride to a victory, leading 3-1 in the first half through a Josh Brownhill opener and a
Nathan Tella brace, only to be pegged back in the final 20 minutes as Shayne Lavery and Jerry Yates got on the scoresheet in quick succession to force a 3-3 draw and a share of the spoils.
While the league table is still yet to fully take shape after just five games, Kompany may be slightly concerned by his side’s points tally, and, on the back of a 1-0 EFL Cup win away at
Shrewsbury Town, thanks to Samuel Bastien’s goal, they will look to put a second win on the board to kickstart a positive run and avoid losing early ground in the fight to climb back to the Premier League.
