Premier League Preview: Liverpool Vs Wigan

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Premier League match time dawns at Anfield as Liverpool get set to host Wigan on Saturday, February 12, in match week 27.

This is the second of a two-leg contest between the sides, with the initial, hosted by Wigan on November 11, ending in a 1-1 draw.

Torres got the Merseysiders speedily ahead on 7 minutes, and specifically seven minutes following the interval, Rodallega got the Latics level at 1-1. Torres' opening strike was the result of poor defending by Wigan who committed the cardinal mistake of allowing Gerrard too much space, and the captain threaded a pass through to the Spain striker, even as Alcaraz was beaten by the pass and Caldwell was all too effortless for Torres to  get past and put the ball behind Al Habsi into the Wigan net.

Liverpool were brilliant for about 20 minutes at the start, and inexplicably appeared to go into a shell thereafter.

The draw left Liverpool fans fuming and renewing the call for Hodgson's head. Some of the criticism seemed warranted as Liverpool appeared to be in an overly defensive mindset after the interval, when Poulson was brought on for Meireles. Hodgson kept N'gog on the bench and did not even use him as a second half substitute.

Rodallega and N'Zogbia's pace harried the Red's back-line. Tom Cleverley was one more Wigan player who had a superb day at the workplace. Liverpool came back to life in the last 10 minutes and their efforts helped develop probabilities for Torres and Gerrard, producing it all the far more baffling as to why they didn't try it earlier.

Head to head, Liverpool lead Wigan 7-1 in 11 games played between them, with the remaining 3 matches ending in stalemates.

In their last league games, Liverpool have registered  five wins, 4 losses and a draw Wigan have won and lost 2 each of their last 10, drawing the remaining 6. Of 13 residence games, this season, Liverpool have won 8, drawn 3 and lost two, while Wigan have won just two of 12 away games, though losing and drawing five every single.

In match week 26, Liverpool beat Chelsea 1- away at Stamford Bridge, when Wigan beat Blackburn four-3 at household.

Their win against Chelsea has propelled Liverpool to 6th place and with 13 match weeks to play, they could go nonetheless higher.

On existing form, Wigan will will need additional than a slice of luck to get away with any points from Saturday's game.

Liverpool's starting eleven against Chelsea had Reina, Skrtel, Carragher, Agger, Kelly, Lucas, Meireles, Johnson, Gerrard, Maxi and Kuyt. Poulsen and Aurelio featured as substitutes.

Wigan had the following men in their starting eleven against Blackburn: Al Habsi, Boyce, Gohouri, Alcaraz, Figueroa, Diame, N'Zogbia, Watson, McCarthy, Moses and Rodallega. McArthur, Di Santo and Cleverley played as substitutes.