The trap door underneath Wigan Athletic to send them down to the Championship is creaking ready to give way and complete the relegation honours for the season.
Tonight, Roberto Martinez and his Latics travel to the Emirates to face Arsenal and will be in search of a priceless win that will push the battle for relegation into the final day of the season. The result from tonight's Premier League game in London could either drop them or prop them up to live to fight another day.
Wigan, newly crowned FA Cup champions, will be on a high after their giant killing act of Manchester City at Wembley saw them lift the FA Cup this past Saturday. A thoroughly deserved win it was for Martinez and his charges, but they have had no time to celebrate with just 2 days between the Cup final and tonight's game. A loss to Arsenal will seal Wigan's fate and consign them to playing in the Championship next season.
Currently lying 18th in the table, Wigan find themselves 4 points behind 17th placed Sunderland. Aston Villa are 16th a point ahead of Sunderland. These 3 clubs are the primary candidates to endure the drop as they sit perilously close to that 18th place. Five other teams - Stoke City, Southampton, Fulham, Norwich City and Newcastle United - are just inches ahead and will be looking behind their backs. A loss for Wigan tonight will see all these clubs breathe a huge sigh of relief.
Roberto Martinez is one of the finest young managers in the game at present. His standing has now significantly gone up even higher after he led Wigan to FA Cup honours over the weekend. For all the praise showered at him, him and his club have a habit of leaving it late in the season. They spend too much time in the relegation zone year after year. Yet, somehow they have endured and ensured their continuation in England's top flight for 8 consecutive seasons pulling off one Houdini act after another. However, one just gets the feeling that they may have left it too late this time around.
Last year they were pretty much in similar troubled waters before managing to pull themselves out of it. They spent much of last season in the relegation zone, often at the very bottom. Then came the usual March turnaround that we have come to expect from the Latics. Wigan won 7 of their last 9 games to keep themselves afloat in the Premier League. Teams that fell to them included Liverpool, Stoke City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United. One of their 2 losses was a controversial 2-1 defeat against Chelsea, where both of Chelsea's goals were clearly offside.
The Gunners succumbed to a 2-1 defeat when Wigan came calling towards the end of last season. Martinez will take no time to remind his players of what they pulled off last time around. Arsene Wenger and his side have their own troubles as they will look to leapfrog North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the race for the UEFA Champions League spots. A Wigan win will take them to 38 points, 1 behind Sunderland and 2 behind Villa. And it will leave us with the prospect of some final day drama as Roberto Martinez's Wigan welcome Paul Lambert's Aston Villa to the DW in a tantalizing clash for survival. A straight shootout!
Can they do it again? Can Wigan upset Arsenal again to push it to the final day? Can they perform the Great Escape yet again?
The answer will be revealed when the final whistle goes at the Emirates tonight.
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