It's Premier League match time again at the DW Stadium, when Tottenham visit Wigan in match week 31 on Saturday, April 2, in a second leg game, in the Premier League.
The first, hosted by Tottenham on August 28, 2010, ended 1-0 in the visitors' favour. Rodallega's 80th minute strike ended a dreary run against Tottenham for the Latics. In their three previous Premier League games they had conceded 18 goals. On the last occasion, Tottenham and Wigan had played each other, Wigan had been on the receiving end of nine goals without scoring any in return. Garden Sheds Wigan So the result of the first leg game was a bit of a shock for Redknapp and his wards.
Tottenham were insipid before the interval and Assou-Ekotto was replaced by a substitute. Early in the game, the Tottenham goal suffered a few close calls, and Assou-Ekotto was guilty of losing possession of the ball very close to the home goal.
Tottenham appeared rudder-less with Lennon and Giovani in particular looking clueless.
Assou-Ekotto's departure allowed Gareth Bale to play in the left-back position but the mercurial Welshman only showed glimpses of his prodigious skill, on the day. Spurs upped the ante in the second half but their relentless pursuit of a goal did not have the desired result. Wigan's defence bottled up the Tottenham forwards, and Harry Redknapp was the first to concede it.
Wigan's winning goal resulted from an error of judgement by Tottenham keeper Carlo Cudicini. Wigan's own goalkeeper Ali al-Habsi was their stand out performer who kept a clean slate while under immense pressure.
Head to head, Wigan hold in a 5-2 advantage in the last 11 league games played between the sides, with the remaining 4 matches drawn.
In their last 10 league games, Wigan have registered 2 wins, 4 draws and 4 losses; Tottenham have won 5 of their last 10, while losing 1 and drawing the remaining 4. Of their 14 home games this season, Wigan have won 4, and drawn and lost 6 each, while Tottenham have won 6 of their 15 games on the road, while losing 5 and drawing the remaining 4.
In match week 30, Wigan beat Birmingham 2-1 at home, while Tottenham were involved in a goalless stalemate against West Ham.
Wigan will find Tottenham much tougher than Birmingham, and will need to fight hard to salvage any points from Saturday's game.
Wigan's starting eleven against Birmingham had the following players: Al Habsi, Boyce, Caldwell, Alcaraz, Figueroa, Watson, McCarthy, N'Zogbia, Cleverley, Moses and Di Santo. Diame, Samson and Rodallega played as substitutes.