Comments and predictions for Wigan vs Northampton: The underdog is resilient

Latest Wigan vs Northampton team information

Wigan have made a splash in the transfer market by signing striker Paul Mullin from Wrexham – who lost his place after the Welsh club’s promotion to the Championship – and Mullin could make his full debut in this game.

Another new signing – Dara Costelloe, on loan from Burnley – could also feature, especially as he played for Northampton last season.

Tyrese Francois, Stephen Sessegnon and Matt Smith have all returned from pre-season injuries, but Dion Rankine remains sidelined.

Northampton will be without Tom Eaves, Jon Guthrie and Liam Shaw, who picked up injuries in the opening game, but centre-back Jordan Willis is back, along with club icon Sam Hoskins, who missed the final month of last season.

Michael Forbes – a new signing from West Ham on loan – is likely to start. Manager Nolan is particularly pleased to have the young centre-back from his old club.

Latest predicted lineup for Wigan vs Northampton

Wigan Athletic:

Tickle; Carragher, Kerr, Mellish, Sessengnon; Smith, Weir, Francois, Darcy; Mullin, Costelloe

Northampton Town:

Burge; Burroughs, Forbes, Thorniley, Wormleighton; McGeehan, Campbell, Perkins; Hoskins, Jacobs, Fornah

Latest football commentary on Wigan vs Northampton

With a history of fighting in the Premier League, Wigan Athletic certainly expects to make a clear step forward after finishing only 15th in League One last season.

Despite remaining unbeaten in their final eight games of the 2024-25 season, Wigan have only managed two wins in that run – largely due to a lack of attacking flair.

In total, Wigan have scored just 40 goals – the fewest in League One. Fortunately for them, a solid defence – conceding less goals than the top two teams – has kept them out of danger.

Since being relegated from the Premier League, Wigan have oscillated between the Championship and League One, having won the Third Division three times. However, they are not as favourites this season – odds of winning the title were 25/1 before kick-off.

In terms of results, Ryan Lowe's team's pre-season has been quite positive: they won against Chorley, Accrington Stanley, Tranmere Rovers and drew with Curzon Ashton.

Wigan's first opponents are Northampton – a team they beat 2-1 at home last season, and then drew 1-1 in the final round thanks to a 96th-minute equaliser from Dale Taylor.

For their part, Northampton Town just finished the 2024-25 season in 19th place and are currently the team with the second highest relegation rate this season – despite having successfully stayed up for two consecutive seasons.

This is the first time since the late 2000s that Northampton have enjoyed a third consecutive season in League One, and manager Kevin Nolan's job is to help the club maintain that status.

After a shaky start, Northampton have picked up their form – they beat Birmingham City's youth team 3-0, after a draw with West Ham U21s.

They have lost to Millwall, Norwich and Cambridge, and drawn with Brackley Town (a team outside the professional league system). However, friendly results do not always reflect true pre-season performance.

Latest Wigan vs Northampton score prediction

Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.Wigan vs Northamptonas follows:

• Sportsmole:Wigan 1-2 Northampton

• WhoScore:Wigan 2-1 Northampton
• Our newspaper predicts:Wigan 1-1 Northampton

When and where to watch Wigan vs Northampton live?

To watch live the Wigan vs Northampton match in League One taking place at 22:00 on August 2, viewers can watch it on online sports channels. Wish viewers have fun watching football.