TipResumen

ASTON VILLA

After going 'all in' for promotion last season Aston Villa looked in danger of being placed in a really difficult financial position before the new owners arrived. Getting into the Premier League is once again the top target for Aston Villa and that meant they decided not to cash in on Jack Grealish and instead add to the squad that Steve Bruce can pick from. It was a strong start to the new season for Aston Villa who came from a goal down to beat Hull City on Monday in their opening game of the new Championship season. That was a very good result to get the season off to a positive beginning and Aston Villa will feel they can get closer to the automatic promotion positions if they can make a slight improvement to the 14- 7-2 record they earned at Villa Park in the 2017/18 campaign. Some key performers have left Aston Villa in the summer, but bringing in the likes of John McGinn and Axel Tuanzebe will give Bruce more options in what is a decent set of players to choose from. The end of last season was a little more difficult for Aston Villa who won just half of their last 6 games at Villa Park in all competitions.



WIGAN ATHLETIC

Paul Cook has been in charge of Wigan Athletic for fifteen months and he has managed to help this yo-yo club earn promotion back to the Championship. The 3-2 home win over Sheffield Wednesday last weekend will have given the fans belief they can prevent the recent trend of following a promotion with a relegation. There weren't any more additions to the squad at the transfer deadline, but Wigan Athletic have been able to add some Championship level quality to the squad that finished as League One Champions last season. The Latics had an incredibly strong away record at the League One level on their way to winning that Division and Wigan Athletic also played pretty effectively on their travels when in the Championship two seasons ago. Wigan Athletic have lost 1 of their last 13 games in all competitions and they are unbeaten in their last 9 in a row. They have won 6 of their last 8 away games although all of those were at the League One level and this is a much tougher test for Wigan Athletic.



HEAD TO HEAD

Aston Villa beat Wigan Athletic 4-1 at home in the League Cup last season and they also beat them 1-0 here in the Championship two seasons ago. Aston Villa have won 3 of their last 4 home games against Wigan Athletic although the exception was a 0-3 win for The Latics.



PREDICTION

The early stages of any new League season can be tough to predict but it is especially the case in the English Championship which remains one of the hardest Leagues in the world. This really is a Division in which the top teams could lose to any other on any given weekend. However I do think Aston Villa can back up what was a pretty successful season at Villa Park last time around when they won 14 of their 23 home League fixtures. Keeping hold of Jack Grealish is a huge boost for Aston Villa and they may just have enough to edge out newly promoted Wigan Athletic even though both clubs impressed on the opening weekend of the Championship season. I will back Aston Villa but will do that on the Asian Handicap which will return half the stake in the event of a draw.