That said, in recent weeks, performances have begun to pick up a bit so the intensity of Sunday's display at Stamford Bridge was slightly disappointing. If things go their way on their day, Wigan can beat any side in the league, so we can't afford to put in a lethargic performance.
The Latics are likely to be without two influential players in Ivan Ramis and Shaun Maloney who both limped out of Saturday's victory over Reading early. I expect them to stick to their guns with a three-at-the-back system but the injuries may well mean that boss Roberto Martínez opts to go 3-5-2 rather than the 3-4-3 that his players have become accustomed to.
Wigan's left hand side for me is there most dangerous, although it's attacking prowess will be weakened significantly with the loss of Maloney. Nevertheless, if Mancini chooses to start with a narrow 4-2-2-2, we risk being outnumbered in the middle and particularly down our right-hand side. Wigan are a dangerous side with a fantastic young manager orchestrating them, but they can leak goals and their formation may lead them susceptible to conceding should we counter-attack which is why, in my opinion, Mancini should offer Sinclair a chance in this game, alongside both Nasri and Silva.
I expect the number of people wanting to see Sinclair to feature to be a minority, possibly even singular (me) but his pace may prove to be very handy should we break their midfield, and we will, there is a lot of space to be exposed and attacked. Sinclair will prove to be a very handy player in games like this, and besides, he's our player, let's use him. The only negative of playing three attacking midfielders is that it means we are likely to start with only one striker, leaving two of Wigan's centre-backs free to defend without having to worry who they are marking, whether their opponent is running in behind and so on. Having said that, none of the three centre-halves featured in the above diagram are, without sounding too harsh, particularly intelligent defenders.
Tévez only featured briefly on Sunday, as did Balotelli so one of them has to start ahead of both Aguero and Dzeko, both of whose performances mean that they don't warrant a place in the starting XI. It's a toss up between Carlos and Mario for that one starting berth, but I'm edging towards the Argentine simply because he's scored goals in the league this season and, on the pitch at least, he's much more reliable, something which is vital if we do start with only one striker. This game should be a chance for Nasri to prove himself in the middle, with Silva drifting in from the left or right.
Clichy is still injured so Kolarov gets another start, hopefully he can provide more of an attacking threat than he did at Stamford Bridge, while there's no breaking up that Kompany-Nastasic partnership.
Prediction
If they do play with two strikers, I can see Wigan scoring, but they won't be as dangerous as they usually are in the 3-4-3. Like I said though, they can be leaky at the back, and should Tévez play up top on his own, his best role, I can see him playing a blinder, particularly with the support he will have behind him. It's a big chance for the likes of Nasri, Sinclair and Kolarov to prove themselves. Nasri to show he's worthy of a central attacking-midielder spot, not just left out on the wing and Sinclair to prove himself altogether really, while Kolarov has to convince a lot of people that he's competent as a left-back in a flat back four. If we set up with as above: Wigan 1-3 City.
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