Lawro Predicts - Sunderland v Latics

Prestons very own Panto Dame, Mark 'Lawro' Lawrenson, as done his weekly round of Premier League predictions for the BBC, this week he is forecasting that the Latics trip up to Sunderland will end in tears for Martinez and his men, let's take a look at his reason's why:

Sunderland v Wigan

I thought Sunderland might have held on to beat West Ham last week but the Hammers' late equaliser means Martin O'Neill's side are still without a league win this season.

I don't think they will have to wait much longer, though. They haven't really been any better than OK against anyone all season but Steve Fletcher is in a fantastic vein of form and I'd fancy them to put Wigan under a lot of pressure.

It was no great surprise that Black Cats midfielder Lee Cattermole was sent off against MK Dons in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday and also no great surprise that O'Neill was unhappy about it either.

Cattermole is past the stage of being able to put his actions down to being over-enthusiastic. He is 24 now and is an experienced pro so he knows he cannot lunge in.

His old club Wigan will try and play good football at the Stadium of Light, which they can on occasions, but they do not play well enough for long enough in games.

It's not a case of the Latics having to improve otherwise they are in another relegation battle, because they are already. Like I said on Match of the Day, the way I'd describe their campaign is a bit like a basketball match where you want to fast forward to the last few minutes of the game. With Wigan, you just want to know what will happen to them at the end of the season.

Prediction: 2-0

We always do well up at Sunderland and we always do well against Martin O'Neill, 1-2 Latics win for me

To see all Lawro's weekend predictions visit www.bbc.co.uk/lawros-punts

The latest PWU Podcast is now available, this week it's the Sunderland v Latics preview, as well as look backs at both the Fulham and West Ham games, in the 'studio' are Barry, Gareth, Paul and Rob

The podcast is available for download from iTunes, our hosting site www.buzzsprout.com or you can click play on the player below to listen from here

As always feedback is welcome, plus if you want to get involved in the podcast please contact us here at Vital Latics wigan@vitalfootball.co.uk , mark your email Podcast



















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