Football Bet of the Day: Dull encounter expected at DW Stadium

Wigan host Man United on Monday night in the FA Cup third round and the Red Devils will hope that the cup can provide a welcome distraction from their troubles.

United have won only one of their last six matches and Erik ten Hag’s men were last seen slumping to a 2-1 defeat when taking on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

Wigan will be eyeing an upset, and while the Latics take a major jump up in class, the League One side have lost only four of their 19 matches.

Man United have scored only six times in their last eight matches, the Red Devils have failed to score a single goal in five of their previous eight matches and it’s one strike in four away contests for Ten Hag’s men.

Looking at the poor goalscoring record you would expect under 2.5 goals to be a pretty tight price on Monday night. However, United are extremely short at 2/9 to beat Wigan and that means the goal tally is expected to go beyond that mark.

Clearly, the Red Devils are taking a major step down in class at the DW Stadium, but it doesn’t appear a contest where United will run riot.

Rasmus Hojlund has scored one Premier League goal this season, Marcus Rashford has only three league strikes so far and Antony hasn’t contributed a single top-flight goal this term.

Anthony Martial and Mason Mount would carry some goal threat, but that duo are ruled out of the trip to Wigan and Hojlund is also a doubt after missing the defeat at Nottingham Forest through illness.

There’s not a great deal of attacking options for Ten Hag, and even fewer in-form alternatives, with Scott McTominay United’s leading Premier League scorer this term with just five goals.

United are likely to dominate the possession against Wigan, but the Latics have conceded only two goals in their last six matches at the DW Stadium and they have kept four clean sheets in that half dozen games.

United will obviously have more quality than the standard of opposition that Wigan are resisting in League One and the EFL Trophy, but the shape, discipline and commitment of Shaun Maloney’s men won’t change when the Red Devils come to town and there is reason to think that the Latics can at least stay competitive.

It’s 5/4 that Monday night’s FA Cup third-round contest goes under 2.5 goals and that offer looks to hold plenty of value.

Check out our other Football Bets of the Day here.