Wigan Athletic boss Roberto Martinez is reportedly keen on going full throttle to beat Liverpool, claiming that only the full three points will help Wigan escape the bottom three on Wednesday night.
The Latics are coming off of an inspired 1-1 draw against Chelsea, a match in which Martinez felt that his club deserved three points.
It’s a bit early to being going all-out for three points, but you’ve got to admire Martinez’s confidence.
“We don’t have a choice,” the Spaniard told Wigan’s official website.
“In any other season, as a mid-table team, you have that choice. But where we are, we have a very desperate need of points. At the start of the season we were punished for dropping points when we shouldn’t and now every game is an opportunity to get those points back.
“We approach the Liverpool game, it makes it harder as they have a real quality on the counter-attack and we can’t leave ourselves exposed, but the truth is, we are playing at home, we are galvanised by the environment the fans created on Saturday and, on our day, we can beat anyone and that’s the mentality we take to Liverpool.”
Martinez had nothing but praise for midfielder Jordi Gomez, who scored the equaliser against the Blues last week, comparing him to the likes of David Silva and Juan Mata.
“Jordi has been working hard in training and has had to endure adversity more than any other player,” Martinez said.
“Technically he is very gifted, in the mould of Juan Mata or David Silva, and it took our fans a bit of time to understand his game, but now I think you can see that understanding.
“The crowd made him feel well, and when you feel loved you can allow your football to talk and that’s what he is doing. It makes a big difference as a foreign player when you come in and you have that bond with the crowd, and that’s what Jordi has.”
The Latics have tallied four consecutive results versus Liverpool at DW Stadium, but a victory versus the stingiest defence in the Premier League could be a tough task.
“[They are] very impressive,” Martinez added.
“I got the opportunity to see them live against Aston Villa and it gives you the impression they have a lot of very good players, they know what it means to play for Liverpool and have been there a long time.
“Others are having a honeymoon period, they have very good pace with [Craig] Bellamy and [Stewart] Downing, and [Luis] Suarez who is in the moment of his career.
“They have quality all over and this is probably the strongest Liverpool we’ll have faced in the last three or four years.”
Prediction: Wigan Athletic 1 – Liverpool FC 1
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