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6 hours ago
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Still searching for their first League One victory of the season, basement club Cambridge United welcome Wigan Athletic to Abbey Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
While the U's are hoping to end their nine-game winless streak on home soil, the Latics are bidding to extend their unbeaten away run to five matches.
Match preview
© Imago
Cambridge are one of only three teams in the entire EFL, and one of only two sides in League One - along with Burton Albion - who are still searching for their first league victory of the 2024-25 season.
The U's have suffered defeat in eight of their opening nine matches, scoring a league-low six goals in the process, and have lost each of their last six games since picking up their only point of the campaign in a dramatic 4-4 draw with Blackpool in August - a game they were losing 3-1 with half an hour remaining.
Cambridge have failed to win any of their last 15 league fixtures (D4 L11), the longest current winless streak in the EFL, while head coach Garry Monk has won just 8.7% of his 23 games in charge since his appointment in March, winning just two, drawing six and losing 15 across all competitions.
Few will be surprised to see Cambridge, who lost 1-0 away to Rotherham United in their most recent match on October 5, sitting rock bottom of the League One table and the pressure is mounting on Monk to turn the club's fortunes around as they already find themselves seven points adrift of safety.
Interestingly, the last time Cambridge celebrated a victory in any competition was in April when they beat Saturday's opponents Wigan 3-1 on home soil - the U's have in fact won two of their last three league games against Wigan, as many victories as they managed across their previous 15 meetings combined (D8 L5).
© Imago
Wigan have put together a seven-game unbeaten run across all competitions under the tutelage of Shaun Maloney, although four of those games have ended as 0-0 draws.
Indeed, the Latics boast the best defensive record in League One as they have conceded just five goals and have kept an impressive seven clean sheets, not conceding a single goal for over 540 minutes across their last six matches.
Wigan's backline also stood firm in Tuesday's 2-0 victory over fourth-tier strugglers Carlisle United in EFL Trophy - the Latics did not face a single shot on target and first-half strikes from Josh Stones and Michael Olakigbe helped Maloney's men secure maximum points to climb up to second in Group C.
Three consecutive League One matches against Cambridge, Mansfield Town and Blackpool are now on the horizon for Wigan, who currently sit 15th in the table but only three points behind the top seven.
Wigan, who have won just four of their last 10 meetings with Cambridge, head into Saturday's contest having lost just two of their nine away league visits to Abbey Stadium (W2 D5), with each of those games seeing both teams score at least one goal.
Cambridge United League One form:
Cambridge United form (all competitions):
Wigan Athletic League One form:
Wigan Athletic form (all competitions):
Team News
© Imago
Cambridge defender Kell Watts is set to return to the matchday squad this weekend after stepping up his recovery from a hamstring injury during the international break, while Zeno Ibsen Rossi could also be involved after missing the last two matches with a back problem.
Shayne Lavery (hamstring) and Gary Gardner (Achilles) have both resumed light training, but Saturday's game may come too soon for the duo, and the same can be said for Josh Stokes (knee).
Goalkeeper Vicente Reyes only returned from international duty with Chile on Thursday, but he is expected to be available for selection on Saturday.
As for Wigan, Joe Hugill and Steven Sessegnon only returned to training on Thursday and Saturday's match may come too soon for the pair, while Luke Chambers is a doubt and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.
Maloney has revealed that Maleace Asamoah has stepped up his recovery from injury and will play "another two or three Under-21 games" before making a first-team comeback, while Luke Robinson - who has not played since April - is also closing in on a return.
The Wigan boss has also confirmed that Tyrese Francois "will start one of the next three games" as he is "really close to being ready", while Chris Sze returned to training over the international break after a spell away from the first team to deal with 'personal issues' and he could be named in the matchday squad this weekend.
Cambridge United possible starting lineup:
Reyes; Okedina, Rossi, Andrew; Bennett, Digby, Smith, Gibbons; Barton, Kaiki; Nlundulu
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Tickle; Carragher, Kerr, Aimson, Chambers; M. Smith; Rankine, Wier, Aasgard, McManaman; Taylor
We say: Cambridge United 0-2 Wigan Athletic
Both teams have scored in each of the last 10 meetings between Cambridge and Wigan, with at least three goals scored in eight of those fixtures, so another contest with plenty of goalmouth action could be on the cards this weekend.
However, it is difficult to envisage League One's lowest scorers Cambridge breaching Wigan's sturdy backline - the best in the division - so we are backing the Latics to come out on top without reply.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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