Preview: Wigan Athletic vs. Luton Town – prediction, team news, lineups

Two championship teams will lock horns in one FA Cup Third round replay on Tuesday evening, with Wigan Athletic greeting City of Luton to the DW Stadium.

Both sides could not be separated at their meeting on January 7th Harry Cornick Equalizer for Luton after Tom Naylor put Wigan ahead in Bedfordshire in the 17th minute.

game preview

©Reuters

Wigan won the FA Cup in 2012/13 by defeating Manchester City 1-0 in the final Ben Watson scored the winner in added time of the second half at Wembley.

As mentioned, the Latics took the lead against Luton last weekend, but Cornick equalized in first-half injury time, allowing the two teams to meet again to determine which team advances to the fourth round.

Wigan will enter the game after a 1-1 draw with Cardiff City in the Championship which puts them bottom of the table with 25 points from 27 games.

Kolo ToureThe SV side are just four points behind Cardiff in 21st place but have not won the league since November 12, losing four of their last five games in a difficult run.

Wigan have already beaten Luton this season and won 2-1 in the league in September while they have lost just one of their last 12 games in all competitions against Tuesday’s opponents which should give them confidence ahead of the competition.

Luton, meanwhile, will go into this game after a 3-2 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Rob Edwardsagainst the Baggies, the team was actually two goals ahead Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo registered within the first 10 minutes but the hosts then conceded three times without reply to suffer their seventh league defeat of the season.

Luton are currently ninth in the Championship table and have 39 points from 26 games to their credit, leaving them two points behind West Brom, who are now sixth after Saturday’s win.

The Hatters have never won the FA Cup but they famously reached the final of the competition in 1958/59, losing 2-1 to Nottingham Forest at Wembley.

Neither Wigan nor Luton will see the FA Cup as their priority competition this season, with the league being far more important, but both sides will remain desperate to reach the fourth round of the tournament.

Form of Wigan Athletic FA Cup:

Wigan Athletic Form (all competitions):

Luton Town FA Cup Form:

Form of Luton Town (all competitions):

Team News

©Reuters

Wigan will be without the services of again Jason Kerr due to a long-term knee injury while Tom Pearce will be out until at least the end of the month with ankle problems.

Head coach Toure will make changes to the side who were on the field against Cardiff on Saturday, with Ashley Fletcher be visible in the last third of the field.

There could also be a place in the starting XI for Miguel Azezwith the Arsenal forward on loan coming off the bench to make his debut for the club against Cardiff.

As for Luton, that includes a long injury list Luke Freiman, Fred Onyedinma, sonny bradley, Henry Lansbury and James Shea.

Head coach Edwards will mix his pack from the Energiezapp competition with West Brom on Saturday Cauley Woodrowcornich, Louie Watson and Reece Burke should come to the XI.

Adebayo could be the player to fall from the front line to the bench, with Cornick potentially starting alongside Morris.

Wigan Athletic possible starting line-up:
amos; Edmonds-Green, Whatmough, Tilt; Nyambe, Might, Azeez, Naylor, McClean; Long Flecher

Luton Town possible starting line-up:
Horvath; Bree, Lockyer, Potts; burke; Watson, Campbell, Woodrow, Bell; Morris, Cornick

We say Wigan Athletic 0-1 Luton Town

It’s a tough game but Luton will be counting on his chances of progressing to the fourth round of the competition. Wigan managed to end a four-game losing streak in the league by drawing against Cardiff on Saturday, but we think Luton can pull off a narrow win here.

For a data analysis of the most likely outcomes, goal scores and more for this game, please click here.

Email previews