The last time Manchester City met Wigan was last season's FA Cup final where Ben Watson's last-minute header was enough to earn the Latics their first major piece of silverware. The two sides now meet each other in the Capital One Cup third round and here I will preview the game and look at team news, likely starting line-ups as well as giving my prediction for the outcome of the match.
Man City
City will come into tonight's game full of confidence after their 4-1 drubbing of local rivals Manchester United at the weekend. Two goals from Sergio Aguero as well as strikes from Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri gave new manager Manuel Pellegrini his first derby success although his side have certainly showed signs of inconsistency throughout the early stages of the season. Along with the win against United, City also enjoyed a comfortable 4-0 win over Newcastle United in their first match of the season but have struggled on their travels suffering a 3-2 defeat at newly promoted Cardiff City and drew a blank in the 0-0 at Stoke City whilst a 2-0 home win over Hull didn't tell the full story as the Tigers could very easily have taken something from the game. On their day City are potentially the best team in the league but they don't seem to be able to turn in enough outstanding performances regularly enough. Changes are expected to be made to the side and Pellegrini could hand defender Micah Richards his first start of the season after he returned to the bench against United. Jack Rodwell, David Silva and Gael Clichy all remain doubts whilst Joleon Lescott, James Milner and Stevan Jovetic are expected to come into the side. City have been knocked out at the third round stage of the competition in two of the last three years after West Brom's 2-1 win in 2010 and Aston Villa's 4-2 extra time success last season. The Chilean manager will be hoping that his new side's struggles don't continue as he looks to claim his first piece of silverware in the English game.
Wigan
Last season wasn't all success for Wigan after they were relegated from the Premier League, just days after their FA Cup success, following eight seasons in the top-flight. They have had a mixed start to life back in the Championship having started with a 4-0 win at Barnsley in their opener and other wins have followed at home to Nottingham Forest and Ipswich. The Latics drew 2-2 against both Middlesbrough and Doncaster whilst defeats have been suffered at both newly promoted Bournemouth and Leicester to leave them with 11 points from their opening seven matches. Having won the FA Cup they also qualified for the Europa League and managed a 0-0 draw at Zulte Waregem of Belgium last Thursday in their first ever European tie. It remains to be seen how serious they take the competition with promotion this season's priority and manager Owen Coyle made seven changes to his side for the game. With tonight's game his side's third match in just six days, Coyle is again expected to make a host of changes. The Scot's attacking options are severely limited as it is with Shaun Maloney (back), Callum McManaman (ankle), Marc Antonie-Fortune (hamstring) and Grant Holt (knee) all expected to not be risked. With Ali Al Habsi (shoulder), Gary Caldwell (hip) and Ivan Ramis (knee) all remaining long-term absentees it is expected that youngsters Lee Nicholls, Adam Buxton and Nouah Dicko are given the chance to impress.
With Wigan expected to play a number of youngsters I feel that Manchester City will stroll to a comfortable victory on Tuesday evening. Having to juggle a number of competitions it is fair to assume that manager Owen Coyle and Wigan's priorities remain in promotion so a defeat here may not be the worst thing in the world for the Latics. It would be hard for Wigan to travel to the Etihad on a normal occasion but having had just one day's rest since their league victory Ipswich on Sunday it is very harsh to expect the Championship side to be at full strength and I can therefore see City triumphing 3-0. Source - Sky Sports