Latics make the short trip to Prenton Park as they take on Tranmere Rovers in more Sky Bet League Two action this weekend (3pm KO).
Harry Kewell’s men were unfortunate to be on the losing side in a seven goal thriller last time out at the New Lawn and will be looking to bounce back with a successive away trip against another strong Rovers side.
Form Guide
Tranmere come into the game on the high of reaching the Papa John’s Trophy final as they beat League One side Oxford United 2-0 to book their place in the Wembley final where they will be hoping to beat another League One side in the form of Sunderland.
Rovers lost their last league outing against Stevenage but prior to that they had been in fine form, winning each of their last five league games.
Their impressive run of form leaves them in 6th place in League Two, just three points away from an automatic promotion spot.
Head-to-Head
Meetings: 89
Latics wins: 35
Tranmere wins: 33
Draws: 21
For: 123
Against: 125
When the sides met at Boundary Park earlier this season, it was Tranmere who got the better of proceedings.
32-year-old journeyman forward James Vaughan was the man who got the only goal of the game in the 27th minute.
Team News
In terms of selection Head Coach Harry Kewell has some more decisions to make.
Striker George Blackwood is in contention to finally make a return whilst the game may be too soon for Zak Dearnley.
He may also be boosted defensively with Harry Clarke and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson back in training.
Interesting Info
- P89 W35 D21 L33 Scored 123 Conceded 125.
- Away, it’s P42 W11 D10 L21 Scored 49 Conceded 77.
- The biggest defeat was 13-4 in 1935. Latics have more wins by three or more goals against Tranmere with seven against their five.
- The biggest win against Tranmere was at Prenton Park, 4-0 in 1951.
- Latics have had six wins by three goals against Tranmere, but the last one was in 1956. With no wins by more than two goals since then.
- Latics have also won by two goals eight times, all since 1964. Including the 2-0 win in 2019.
- Last winning at Tranmere, 2-1 in August 2010 and also won there twice in 2010 (also 1-0 in Feb).
- But have drawn the last two there (2-2 in 2014 and 1-1 in 2018).
- Never in the club’s entire history have the club scored so many goals this far into the season, with 23 in 13 games.
- Tranmere are in great form - five league wins on bounce before losing to Stevenage recently, with five wins in six in all competitions to book another Wembley appearance.
- Tranmere Rovers vs. Latics, comparable stats below:
- Wins: 13 wins vs. 10.
- Scored: 35 vs. 44.
- Conceded: 32 vs. 50.
- Tranmere have +3 goal difference, which relatively small compared to teams around them at the top (e.g. Exeter +15, Newport +8).
Watch Out For
James Vaughan’s winning goal at Boundary Park was just one of 16 that the forward has so far this league campaign, making him the second deadliest goal scorer in the division.
Vaughan started at Everton and had an incredible start to his career, scoring on his debut at the age of just 16 and 271 days. This broke James Milner’s record for being the youngest scorer in the Premier League.
Unfortunately for the striker, injury issues would mean that he never hit the heights expected of him at Goodison Park and he was sent out on loan to Debry County, Leicester City and Crystal Palace on loan before eventually leaving Merseyside on a permanent deal in May 2011 as he signed for fellow Premier League side Norwich City.
Again, injury problems would frustrate Vaughan, but he found his goalscoring form whilst on loan at Huddersfield and the Terriers then moved to make his loan deal a permanent one.
His next club was Birmingham City and from there he went to Bury before having subsequent spells with Sunderland, Wigan Athletic, Portsmouth and Bradford City.
The 32-year-old initially joined Rovers in January 2020 on loan from the Bantams and scored three goals in eight games before the season was cut short.
He joined on a permanent basis this summer and has continued his impressive start to life at Prenton Park.
Familiar Face
Ex-Latics skipper Peter Clarke currently plays for Tranmere Rovers.
Clarke joined Rovers in January 2020 from Fleetwood Town and then activated a one-year extension in his contract with the club.
The 38-year-old defender began his career with Everton and also played for Blackpool, Port Vale, Coventry City, Southend United, Huddersfield Town and Bury before joining Latics in 2016.
During his time at Boundary Park, Clarke made 124 appearances, scoring 15 times. In addition, he won the club’s player of the season award on two occasions whilst with Latics, becoming a fans favourite in the process.
Current Oldham defender Cameron Borthwick-Jackson also had a brief loan spell with Rovers.
In The Dugout
Keith Hill is the man in the dugout for the hosts.
Tranmere is the fourth side that Hill has managed, and he has previously had the reigns at Rochdale, Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers.
He got the job on the 21st November 2020 and the impressive run of form shown by his side since has lifted Tranmere into promotion contention.
Match Officials
The man in charge for the game is Sebastian Stockbridge.
From Tyne, he has officiated 20 games this season, handing out 64 bookings and two red cards.
It will be his first refereeing Latics in this campaign, but has previously done Tranmere in December where they won 2-1 at home over Manchester City U21 in the trophy.
Interestingly, his last fixture involving Oldham was back in November 2018 in a 1-1 draw against Tranmere at Boundary Park.
He will be assisted by Ravel Cheosiaua and Chris Isherwood, with Scott Oldham as the Fourth Official.
Stadium
Prenton Park
Capacity: 16,587
Record attendance: 24424 (v Stoke City FA Cup 1972)
Opened: 9th March 1912
Sky Bet Odds
Latics are 21/10 to take maximum points from the game whilst Tranmere are 23/20 favourites to boost their promotion chances.
12/5 is the price offered for the draw.
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How To Follow The Game
Because the game is classed as behind-closed-doors, supporters can tune into a live match stream with commentary available for all subscribers on iFollow Latics, as Roy Butterworth and Michael Brown you through the action.
This match is available as a live stream for the fee of £10 by clicking here.
In the current environment, there is a greater dependence on match streaming than ever before.
As a result iFollow generates one of the only revenue streams available to clubs through these financial challenges.
Piracy - and illegal streaming of matches - does not only carry the risk of potential criminal action, but also has a greater financial impact on clubs while supporters are unable to attend matches.
The EFL's campaign would like to not only convey the message that piracy is immoral and illegal, but that it is also financially damaging club's across the divisions.
For more information on the campaign and iFollow, click here.
Alternatively, supporters can also follow the game with live updates on the club's official Twitter account: @OfficialOAFC.