At the beginning of the campaign, most Wigan Athletic fans were quietly confident of a very successful season.
The Latics, having invested smartly in the transfer market in the summer, were widely tipped to go on and challenge for an automatic promotion spot – but even the most ardent Wigan fan probably didn’t expect Paul Cook’s side to be sitting pretty at the top of League One in mid-January.
Wigan last tasted defeat way back on November 18 and the Latics are now well on the way to securing automatic promotion. Cook’s men have leapfrogged Shrewsbury Town at the top of the table and it would take a brave man to back against Wigan in their pursuit of silverware.
After all, the Latics are arguably the most complete squad in the division and it would be hard to argue against that belief on current form, especially with new signing Jamie Walker yet to make an impact.
Looking at the League One table at the time of writing, Wigan are two points clear of closest rivals Shrewsbury but perhaps more importantly, seven clear of Blackburn Rovers in third place. Currently 2/7 to win the division in the football betting odds, Wigan are in pole position to push on and cement their status at the top of the division.
It won’t be easy but the Latics have enough quality to keep their rivals at arm’s length. Cult hero Will Grigg, who made a name for himself after his incredible 2015/16 campaign, is back amongst the goals and that can only mean positive things for this Latics side.
After a very slow start to the campaign, Grigg now has eight goals in his last 10 appearances, including a hat-trick in Wigan’s 7-0 thumping away at Oxford United on December 23. One could even claim that Grigg is on fire! But perhaps most impressive of all is Wigan’s defensive record.
As of January 11, the Latics boast the best set of defensive statistics in the Football League, conceding just 12 goals in 25 matches. Christian Walton and Jamie Jones have kept 16 clean sheets between them and their form has been key to Wigan’s success so far this campaign.
For Cook’s men, clean sheets are just as important as scoring goals.
