Premier League preview: Liverpool v Wigan

Liverpool will be looking for just their second home victory of the season when they host Wigan at Anfield on Saturday.

The Reds enter the clash in 13th place on the English Premier League table, having won just once in the league since the start of October.

That triumph was way back on October 20 when they edged past a gallant Reading side 1-0, and Liverpool have drawn three consecutive matches since.

Their latest effort was an impressive 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea and Brendan Rodgers’ side will take plenty of confidence from that result.

Luis Suarez yet again found the back of the net against Chelsea and the prolific marksman now has eight league goals this campaign to be tied at the top of the scoring charts with Manchester United’s Robin van Persie.

Suarez was on target in the corresponding fixture last season, but that mattered little as Wigan downed Liverpool 2-1 in front of 44,431 fans.

That victory helped keep Wigan in the top flight last season, so the ground should hold no fears for Roberto Mart’nez’s side.

Wigan actually enter this clash in a much better position than when they met Liverpool last season, sitting in 14th place on the table with 11 points.

Those 11 points have Wigan placed one spot below Liverpool, so a victory here will have them leapfrog their rival.

Somewhat surprisingly, Wigan have actually been better on their travels this campaign than they have at home, with two of their three victories coming away from the DW Stadium.

Their first away triumph came against Southampton in the second week of the season, while an upset victory at White Hart Lane against Tottenham was produced on their last fixture on the road.

Ben Watson scored the lone goal that day in London and it will be interesting to see if Martinez opts for the midfielder in his starting line-up once again.

The star so far at Wigan this season has been striker Arouna Kone, with the Ivorian having netted on four occasions, one coming in the club’s loss at home against West Brom last time out.