Norwich have to do a Hoola-hoop and twist to keep hopes of survival alive now
Seven points clear with five games remaining, you would’ve said Norwich were safe. Even a six point lead probably would’ve been enough. As it is, they suddenly find themselves just one point ahead of safety and even worse news for the Canaries is that their nearest challengers Sunderland have a game in hand. The Premier League survival race is twisting and turning towards it’s final furlong.
Six defeats in their first eight league games of 2016 would leave their season on the edge of a cliff as they languished in 19th place. But they got a draw against Man City and followed it up with back to back wins over Newcastle and West Brom.
Other results last weekend left the Canaries four points clear ahead of the crucial meeting with Sunderland And then they capitlatued. A first half penalty conversion from Fabio Borini, a second from Defoe and a late goal from Watmore gave Sunderland their first win in seven games.
Suddenly Norwich are to go down.
You can see why our traders have them at those odds when their next two games are away to Arsenal and home to Manchester United. A 40% shot accuracy is the lowest in the Premier League.
They’re still favourites to avoid the drop at time of writing at odds of but with Sunderland and Big Sam circling like he’s pondering the last pizza slice you could see those odds change.
- Big Sam has never been relegated from the Premier League.
- Sunderland have pulled of a ‘great escape’ for the last three seasons – they were in the bottom three at Christmas on all occasions.
- Jermaine Defoe
The Canaries now need to get a result from their next two games to keep pace in the race for survival. Newcastle’s win over Swansea means that they’re just three points behind with a game in hand too.
Sunderland and Norwich are both judged to have a 54 per cent chance of going down.
It’s become a three way inter species race for survival, and two from three won’t survive. Magpie, Black Cat and Canary. And people say football nicknames are ridiculous…