Man City v Wigan: Citizens clean sheet a component of comfy triumph

In a prelude to their FA Cup final clash at Wembley, Manchester City welcome Wigan to the Etihad Stadium in a Premier League tie of great importance, particularly to the travelling side.

But it is unlikely that the Latics can gain anything at the home of the reigning Premier League champions, hence their 11/1 price to triumph, and 5/1 chance of gaining a draw at Eastlands.

By contrast, City are heavily favoured to prosper as they will be when the sides lock horns at Wembley in May, and the 1/5 FA Cup shots are 1/4 to beat Wigan in this league fixture.

As a means to gain added value though, the Citizens look well worth investment to win a game in which they don’t concede, a feat they have accomplished in each of their past six meetings with Wigan.

City have also beaten the Latics without being breached in seven of the past eight encounters of the pair, further strengthening the notion that they should be backed for a clean-sheet victory at 20/21.

It is also worth noting that Roberto Mancini’s men have translated a half-time lead into a full-time triumph on four of the past five occasions the sides have crossed swords, so half markets appeal too.

8/15 odds are attributed to the possibility of City leading after 45 minutes and at the full-time whistle, but for increased value, the hosts could be worth chancing to win both halves at 13/10.

Such a bet would have paid dividends in six of City’s last eight home matches in all competitions, and tempts in light of Wigan losing 12 of their 15 matches against top-half opposition this term.

An abundance of first scorer options exist within the hosts’ ranks meanwhile, but with a semi-final outing at Wembley likely to have taken its toll, punters should be wary of squad rotation.

And as such, there are worse bets to be found than the 4/1 that Edin Dzeko opens the scoring, as he did in the reverse fixture last season.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.