It is fair to say that Wigan are the big underdogs heading into Saturday’s FA Cup final against Man City.
Which is fine because Wigan are used to that role as they spend most of the Premier League season in the bottom half of the table. And, of course, the fact that Man City have a squad which has had billions invested in it means that Wigan are currently 7/1 to win the match.
Long odds, indeed, but Wigan are one of those unpredictable packages who can surprise anyone on their day and Roberto Martinez will be making sure he instills an ‘us against them’ mentality into his team which could work wonders.
Shaun Maloney will be key if Wigan are to succeed in pulling off an upset as the nippy winger has been, arguably, the club’s best player this season.
During the last few months he has certainly proved his worth with crucial goals against Millwall (in the FA Cup semi-final) and a last minute equaliser against QPR. He has the potential to alter the game in Wigan’s favour and if the rest of the team are all singing from the same hymn sheet then City can expect a very tough challenge, one that Roberto Mancini’s men might no be expecting which would play into Wigan’s favour.