Premier League Saturday LIVE!
Can Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger inspire his team to a win over Roberto Martinez's Wigan Athletic? Find out as we cover the action LIVE on ESPNSTAR.com!
Mikel Arteta's penalty proved enough for Arsenal to defeat Wigan 1-0 and make it three Barclays Premier League victories in a row for the first time since March.
There was very little between the sides and it was the hosts who had the best chance of the first half but it was wasted by Arouna Kone.
The goal came on the hour mark after Jean Beausejour was deemed to have fouled Theo Walcott, much to the anger of the Wigan fans, and Arteta made no mistake.
The three points lifted Arsenal up to third ahead of Chelsea, who play Sunday, while Wigan remain in the bottom three and have now taken only one point from their last five games.
FT Wigan Athletic 0 - 1 Arsenal
FT Manchester C. 1 - 0 Reading
FT Newcastle U. 1 - 0 Queens Park R.
FT Southampton 0 - 1 Sunderland
FT Tottenham H. 0 - 0 Stoke C.
FT West Bromwich A. 2 - 1 Norwich C.
FT West Ham U. 1 - 2 Everton
Starting XIs will be announced 30 minutes before kick-off.
Starting XIs - Wigan vs Arsenal
Wigan: Al Habsi, Kone, McCarthy, Jones, Di Santo, Maloney, McArthur, Boyce, Beausejour, Stam, Figueroa. Subs: Pollitt, Caldwell, Gomez, McManaman, Boselli, Fyvie, Golobart.
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Wilshere, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cazorla, Podolski, Walcott. Subs: Mannone, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Coquelin, Ramsey, Arshavin, Gervinho.
Starting XIs - West Brom vs Norwich
West Brom: Foster; Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Popov; Morrison, Brunt; Odemwingie, Gera, Dorrans; Lukaku.
Norwich: Bunn; Whittaker, Bassong, Turner, Garrido; Pilkington, Johnson, Tettey, Snodgrass, Hoolahan (c), Morison
Starting XIs - Newcastle vs QPR
Newcastle: Krul; Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini (c), Santon; Perch, Tiote, Anita; Cisse, Ba, Gutierrez
QPR: Green; Ferdinand, Nelsen, Hill, Fabio; Mackie, Granero, Mbia, Faurlin, Taarabt; Cisse
Starting XIs - West Ham vs Everton
West Ham: Jaaskelainen, O’Brien, Collins, Reid, Tomkins, Noble, Nolan, Jarvis, O’Neil, Taylor, Cole
Everton: Howard, Jagielka, Distin, Heitinga, Baines, Neville, Osman, Gibson, Anichebe, Pienaar, Jelavic
Starting XIs - Southampton vs Sunderland
Southampton: K. Davis, Clyne, Fonte, Yoshida, Shaw, Puncheon, Schneiderlin, Cork, Ramírez, Lambert, Mayuka
Sunderland: Mignolet, Gardner, Rose, O'Shea (c), Cuellar, Larsson, Colback, Johnson, McClean, Sessegnon, Fletcher.
Starting XIs - Tottenham vs Stoke
Tottenham: Lloris; Walker, Caulker, Dawson, Vertonghen; Lennon, Sandro, Dembele, Bale; Defoe, Adebayor.
Stoke: Begovic; Wilkinson, Shawcross, Huth, Cameron; Shotton, Whelan, Nzonzi, Etherington; Walters & Jones
Starting XIs - Man City vs Reading
Man City: Hart, Zabaleta, Kolo Toure, Nastasic, Rekik; Garcia, Barry, Silva, Yaya Toure; Aguero, Tevez.
Reading: Federici, Gunter, Harte, Mariappa, Pearce, Leigertwood, Karacan, Tabb, McAnuff, Kebe, Pogrebnyak
Starting XIs - Liverpool vs Fulham
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Enrique, Lucas, Gerrard, Shelvey, Suso, Suarez, Downing. Subs: Jones, Carragher, Wisdom, Henderson, Sahin, Sterling, Allen.
Fulham: Schwarzer; Riether, Hughes, Hangeland, Riise; Dejagah, Karagounis, Baird, Richardson, Kacaniklic; Berbatov. Subs: Senderos, Kasami, Stockdale, Briggs, Rodallega, Frei and Tavares.
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Meanwhile, Roberto Mancini has promised to bring more silverware to Manchester City this season as the Citizens gear up for their clash against lowly Reading.
The Italian remains hopeful of overhauling their neighbours to retain the title while he is also focusing on a repeat of the 2011 FA Cup success.
The 48-year-old said: "I think we will win.
"We have two targets and I think if we work better than the first six months and we forget what we did last year we have more chance to win the league."
Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur know they will be in for a tough time when they take on the team with the best defensive record in the league so far, Stoke City.
The Potters' defence was praised by Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas, who knows his side will have to work doubly hard in order to secure all three points against Tony Pulis' side.
"They have been having an amazing year among the best defences in Europe so it will certainly be a very hard game," Villas-Boas said.
"They are a good, solid, organised team and they have a manager who has a specific philosophy that they have been very successful with.
"They've been extremely successful in the Premier League so I compliment them for that.
"Tony has in some ways transformed the fortunes of Stoke. They are a competitive team, a really hard team to beat and it's not going to be easy for us."
Also on Saturday, Southampton will play host to fellow strugglers Sunderland, West Brom will look to recover from their recent dip in form by ending Norwich City's current 10-games unbeaten run, QPR will be looking to build on their first win of the season last weekend when they meet struggling Newcastle, and a depleted Everton side will have take on West Ham.
In the late kick-off, Fulham will look to bounce back from their loss to the Hoops with a win over an inconsistent Liverpool side when the two teams meet at Anfield.
Saturday's Premier League Fixtures
Wigan vs Arsenal
Martinez feels Arsenal going places
Wenger urges Gunners to keep going
Man City vs Reading
Mancini: Mario should respect himself
Mancini promises more trophies
Newcastle vs QPR
Pardew clear on Toon transfer list
Derry frustrated by QPR policy
Southampton vs Sunderland
Cork: Talks turned Saints around
O'Neill issues challenge to Wickham
Tottenham vs Stoke
AVB: Stoke defence one of the best
Caulker: Stoke will give Spurs a test
West Brom vs Norwich
Hughton taking nothing for granted
West Ham vs Everton
Moyes fascinated by German football
Liverpool vs Fulham
Sterling commits future to Liverpool
Fulham stay Jol-ly despite injuries
Sunday's Premier League Fixtures
Swansea vs Man United
Vorm set to return for United clash
Ferguson rejects Scholes claims
Chelsea vs Aston Villa
Benitez holds Terry festive fear
Lambert: Benteke not next Drogba