Wigan Away Match Day Thread

Newcastle have fared well as of late against sides battling relegation. In recent weeks, they've picked up wins at Aston Villa and against Southampton. These wins have swept away relegation concerns and now the Magpies find themselves in 13th place. Wigan meanwhile have struggled to find wins as of late and find themselves, once again, in a fight for their Premiership lives.

Newcastle United

13th Place 9-6-14, 33 points

Form: WWLWLW

Last League Match: Newcastle 2-1 Stoke City

Starting line-up: Elliot; Debuchy, S. Taylor, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon; Gutierrez (c), Tiote; Marveaux, Sissoko, Gouffran; Cisse,

Subs: Harper, Haidara, Perch, Anita, Gosling, Obertan, Shola Ameobi.

Wigan Athletic

18th Place 6-6-16, 24 points

Form: LDDLWL

Last League Match: Wigan Athletic 0-4 Liverpool

Starting line-up: Robles, Kone, Alcaraz, McCarthy, Maloney, Gomez, McManaman, Boyce (C), Beausejour, Figueroa, Scharner.

Subs: Al Habsi, Caldwell, Di Santo, Henriquez, McArtthur, Stam, Golobart.

SB Nation Blog: Pie Eaters Footie

What's at stake: For Newcastle, a win could very well vault them into 10th place. Stoke City has already drawn this weekend, Swansea lost to Arsenal, and Fulham and West Brom face tough match-ups with Tottenham and Chelsea, respectively. EDIT: Norwich is in this mess as well, and they play Sunderland. Wigan simply needs points. With Aston Villa's 3-2 win over QPR, even 3 points today wouldn't get the Lactics out of the drop zone, but every little bit helps.

The last time we met: Demba Ba scored twice and Gael Bigirimana added another in a 3-0 win for Newcastle at St. James' Park. Wigan played much of the match with 10 men after Maynor Figueroa was sent off in the 12th minute.

This fixture last year: It was not a happy trip to the DW Statium last year, as Newcastle were soundly beaten 4-0. All the goals came in the first half. That kicked off a run of three straight wins for the Lactics to close out their season and ensure their place in the Premiership for this year.