Rob's Prediction: Wigan V Norwich

Norwich City will be making a trip to the Dave Whelan Stadium on Saturday 13th August in what promises to be an intriguing contest. Wigan will be on the high after beating Villareal 1-0, with the ever inspirational Victor Moses netting the game's only goal against the Spanish outfit, which must be described as a good victory.

Over the summer, Wigan's main news outlet has been on the future of Charles N'Zogbia - he has moved to Aston Villa and yet the pundits still can't resist a dig at our club. Charles did wonders for Wigan and he shall be sorely missed. I'm sure he'll do well at Villa but in Victor Moses, hopefully we can have someone who will cause all sorts of problems for visiting defences, starting with Norwich.

Wigan completed the 4m signing of Ali Al Habsi, who was a credit to the Premier League and the club last season as he managed to gain cult status amongst the club with a string of terrific performances.

David Jones has also joined from Wolves and he should provide a steady influence in midfield for the Latics. With James McCarthy sidelined for a short spell, it will be interesting to see how the midfield does in the upcoming season with Jones a part of the mix.

I am also hoping to see more of what Conor Sammon and Adrian Lopez can do - Lopez in particular impressing in the game against Villareal. I do hope that we can get another winger in the club before the window shuts but with Moses and Dicko patrolling the wings, it could make for a tricky combination against opposition defences.

Roberto Martinez also decided to stay at Wigan as well after being touted by Aston Villa - this was widely regarded as a refreshing choice but some have seen the decision as a 'step down' decision but Roberto is Wigan through and through and I think his decision at the club is one to be applauded.

We have been promised 3 new players before the end of the transfer window and if we could get Sean Wright Phillips, that'd be a good start and holding onto Rodallega would in itself be a massive help in the club's future ambition.

As for the game, I see it as being very tricky and the club does not have a good opening day record - its time to add to our solitary opening day win at Villa Park with a win against the Canaries. I'm sorry to say that I think that momentum will win the day though as games against promoted clubs are never easy.

On paper, we should scrape through but football's a very strange game indeed. I see a very narrow Norwich victory.

ROB'S PREDICTION
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Wigan 1-2 Norwich

ROB'S FINAL THOUGHT
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It may not be a popular prediction but one must see the stats of our opening day past records. Still, records are there to be added to and hopefully we can add another win to our opening day records. However, we've got an away day at Swansea after Norwich and that'll be more than mouth watering. The atmosphere should be fantastic. Hopefully wins for Wigan and Huddersfield will make for a very satisfying weekend.

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