Wigan Athletic vs West Ham United. The FA Cup Fourth Round.
DW StadiumAttendance14,194.
Saturday 27 January 2018 08:54, UK
FA Cup specialists Wigan Athletic hope to add another Premier League scalp to their list of conquests when they host West Ham on Saturday.
The runaway Sky Bet League One leaders have won six of their last eight FA Cup matches against Premier League opposition and dispatched Bournemouth in the previous round after a replay at the DW Stadium.
That victory means the 2013 winners are now unbeaten in their last seven FA Cup games at home, winning each of the last five.
Furthermore, Paul Cook's men had kept seven consecutive league clean sheets before last week, a run ended when Graham Carey gave Plymouth Argyle the lead from the penalty spot.
The Hammers, who won the competition in 1964, 1975 and 1980, needed a replay and extra-time to overcome League One side Shrewsbury in the third round.
However, David Moyes' men are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games, losing just one of their last nine.
Moyes confirmed in his pre-match press-conference that Michail Antonio and Jose Fonte are back training, but neither will be fit enough for this weekend's contest.
Those two join Manuel Lanzini, Marko Arnautovic, Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho, Edimilson Fernandes and Winston Reid all on the sidelines.
The Hammers have won both of their FA Cup encounters with Wigan, winning 1-0 in 1984 and most recently 2-1 at the DW Stadium in a third-round match in 2004.
West Ham have progressed from each of their last four ties in the FA Cup fourth round - most recently against Liverpool in 2015/16.
Wigan have won six of their last eight FA Cup ties against Premier League opponents, with four of those wins coming when in the Championship or League One.
Among sides in the top four tiers of England, only Manchester City (29) and Manchester United (24) have won more competitive games this season than Wigan Athletic (23).
West Ham are now unbeaten in seven successive games in all competitions (W3 D4 L0).
The one upset I can see occurring from the Super 6 line-up is Wigan's game against West Ham. David Moyes has his injury problems with Marko Arnautovic, Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll all sidelined, so he's very limited to what he's got to pick from.
I don't think Paul Cook will be too worried about disrupting the flow for their Sky Bet League One title push when they're at home, so I think they will have a real go and can earn a replay at the least.
Charlie predicts: 2-2 and Powell to score first (60/1 with Sky Bet)
