canaries91

Spoiler alert! Norwich haven’t sorted out the defence. ?

I’ll keep this short as I’m currently at work. I tend not to get involved in matches where Norwich are playing but this weekend is an exception. Bournemouth at 8/11 (various) are an absolute banker. Norwich have got progressively worse since the start of the season, have been woeful away from home and are still plagued by an injury crisis. One or two of the 13 injured players are back in training but this weekend will come too soon for them. Norwich still have big problems personnel wise in the centre of defence and central midfield. Bournemouth with handicaps will also be worth looking at.

I never like historic stats. What sort of relevance does a game have from 20, 30, 40 years ago? Is anyone else the same or is it just me?

Match preview straight from whoscored https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1284857/Preview/England-Premier-League-2018-2019-Watford-Manchester-City

Just a word of caution on Norwich. Farke has confirmed today that Moritz Leitner and Onel Hernandez are both out injured. Leitner has been Norwich’s most influential player this season, pulling all the strings and orchestrating play. If the season was to stop now, he would arguably be awarded Norwich’s player of the season. Probably second most influential player is Hernandez. The Cuban has been a constant threat from the left wing this season, with his electric pace and trickery. Big, big losses for tomorrow, and as mentioned in another post, Rotherham have been playing well recently, and were the better side against Sheffield United. Another side story to the game is that of Millers boss Paul Warne. He is a Norfolk lad and Norwich fan, with all his family still living in the region. He has (understandably) been saying in the press all week how motivated he is for this game. I don’t really have any betting advice on this game though, and in my opinion Norwich are on the short side, in what is a typically competitive Championship. I just thought I would share some thoughts and injury news.

I personally wouldn’t oppose Ipswich today as it’s Paul Lambert’s first game so it should lift the Ipswich players. He has struggled at some of his latest jobs but I think he may do a bit better with Ipswich, with the Norwich connection firing him up a bit. I almost think it is what he has needed to reignite him and be a success again after going slightly stale at Wolves and Blackburn.

Reading (2.78 with betfair) to beat Norwich. The Norwich head coach Daniel Farke has just given an injury bulletin, and to say Norwich will be entering this match with an injury crisis is almost an understatement! Already, Norwich we’re without captain and best defender Grant Hanley. Along with important midfielders Thompson and McLean. Now, to add to that, Marshall is now sidelined, along with Pinto and Stiepermann who produced a great game on Saturday is a major doubt. However, the one big major blow is that of Onel Hernandez. If Player of the season was awarded now, he would win it by a landslide. He has been something of a revelation, and is now sidelined for the next 5 games with a hernia. Norwich will be going into this game with Reading with a real threadbare side, with teenagers (albeit decent) filling both full back spots, and real holes in midfield and no pace in attack. Reading have come off the back of an impressive win at Preston and represent cracking value at 2.78, which cannot be ignored imo.

Cue the 0-0!

I’ll have to keep it short as I’m at work. The one sticking out massively for me is Ipswich at home to Blackburn at around 2/1. This price is absolutely ridiculous, and there is now way Blackburn should be favourites for this. Paul Hurst has joined Ipswich and has brought back the feel good feeling within the club. He has made some impressive signings and has had a decent pre season. There are reports of a big (for Ipswich) crown of around 18,000 today and I think they are a cracking bet.

I agree about Ipswich. Norwich are much too short, no doubt about that. Norwich have had an inconsistent season, with the better performances all coming away from home. At home, Farke’s style has not suited the team at all. Slow, pedestrian play which is easy to defend against and counter attack. Imo, Norwich’s style of play at home will play right into Ipswich’s hands. When Ipswich are able to play this game (sitting back, soaking up pressure and counter) they have been successful. When they are playing against teams at home like Burton (no offence) like last week, with the onus on them, they have struggled. Although James Maddison has received all the plaudits this season, Tom Trybull has been arguably Norwich’s most important midfielder this season. He arrived on a free transfer from Holland and has been nothing short of a revelation. However Norwich received news this week that he is out for the season, which is a huge blow for Norwich and a massive lift for Ipswich going into this game. I personally will be leaving this game alone but imo Norwich are far too short and are worth a lay/DNB punt in Ipswich with the game situation set to suit their play.

Very best of luck to Wednesday tonight! Sheff Utd fans and especially Chris Wilder came across as arrogant and downright horrible when we played them in the season, have honestly never come across anything like Wilder in the past. Really hope you can do it, although form/injuries certainly point to a home win as you say.

I would love to tip my team Norwich but unfortunately I just can’t at the moment. We are still in a bad phase, and after saying last week that I couldn’t understand how they were favourites at home to Preston (and drawing 1-1!), I can’t see them getting anything at all from tonight’s game at Cardiff. The squad is still injury-ravaged. To add to the long injury list I gave last week, Jerome and Watkins are now both sidelined as well. So we are now left with one striker in Oliveira, who’s commitment has been questioned by some fans of late, and are still woefully short in central midfield. Preston missed a number of golden chances at Carrow Road last week and were unlucky not to win imo. Ive not always been a massive fan of Neil Warnock, but I’ve really admired the job he’s done with Cardiff this season. I was on them pre season to finish in the Top 6 and in the top half. They have been rock solid at home this season and have one of the best records. The style both teams play should suit Cardiff down to the ground. Teams who have played against Norwich with a similar physical game to Cardiff this season have really enjoyed themselves. I can’t overstate how poorly Norwich have been playing the last 4-5 weeks, and although I will be avoiding the game as a Norwich supporter, the price of around 10/11 on a home win is absolutely huge.

What’s happened to Lyon?!

1-1. On the balance of play Norwich were a bit lucky to get a point. Preston missed plenty of chances, Norwich missed just the one, an open goal from Josh Murphy (who by the way has been receiving horrendous abuse from the fans for a number of weeks). Maybe a draw was a fair result.

I agree re Norwich. Right, there is no way they should be that short against a well organised Preston side. There are a few points to make about this game. The sub-plot is the return of Alex Neil. He did a great job at Norwich, achieving promotion via the play-offs, giving the fans a day out at Wembley. It unraveled somewhat with the subsequent relegation and poor season last season, but he remains a decent manager. He will be keen to get stuck into this game, knowing full well the crisis Norwich are in. Norwich themselves have been playing nothing short of atrocious of late. This has been compounded by the squad being decimated by injuries. Klose is now injured and joins the lengthy injury list. The 3 centre mids of Tom Trybull, Alex Tettey and Harrison Reed are all injured, leaving no fit senior midfielders at the club. The squad is already paper thin and in his press conference yesterday, Daniel Farke admitted he may have to make a “crazy decision”, in reference to team selection. He said “Yes I am thinking of a crazy decision or two. We have so many injury problems.” Key player Alex Pritchard has been out since pre season following a horror challenge v Cambridge Utd. He was originally meant to return to under 23 games in the New Year, and Farke even said last week he is still a long way from first team action, but changed his tune yesterday by saying he may have to play him today as he has such a shortage of bodies. Whatever happens, I can’t quite see how Norwich can with this game given the circumstances, and Preston will be set up well to counter with their strong attacking players.