* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
Have you ever seen Norwich City and Dwight Gayle in the same room? Bear with me here. Gayle is one of those forwards who is absolutely lethal in the Championship but pretty toothless in the Premier League.
So, is this Norwich team just essentially 25 or so Dwight Gayles? It looks like we’re going to get another chance to find out next season. The Canaries finished rock bottom of last year’s Premier League table but have carried on in The Championship exactly how they left it – by occupying the top spot with plenty of points in hand over those below them.
Wednesday 6pm: Norwich v Bristol City
Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football
Daniel Farke’s fellas are four points clear of Swansea who occupy 2nd in the second tier and while there have been some murmurs from the support that they’ve not actually been playing that well, the results are certainly coming through loud and clear. They’ve amassed 20 points from 24 games with 15 wins, five draws and four defeats. A mightily impressive record in this crazy, compacted season.
They take on Bristol City in Wednesday’s early televised game and it’s looking like another season of ‘what ifs’ for The Robins. A promising start to the season has fallen away and they’re now looking wistfully up at the playoff spots rather than over their shoulder at the chasing pack as they were in the early weeks. Dean Holden’s men are 9th with 36 points, 11 wins, three draws and nine defeats.
Norwich to Win to Nil
It’s clear that Norwich are the most likely side to triumph in this game but in terms of your three best bets they’re too short to back simply to win. Instead, it’s worth siding with Norwich to Win to Nil.
After a good start Bristol City have not been good away from home recently, losing four of their last five on the road, with two of those seeing them firing blanks. More generally, in their last five losses at home and away they’ve gone four without scoring.
Norwich are not completely rock solid at the back but they’re good enough to dominate a Robins side who are out of form in the final third. In the leaders’ last five wins, three of them have come with clean sheets and, on the balance of these two sides’ recent form, backing Norwich to Win to Nil is the way to go.
Under 2.5 Goals
This selection is quite a generous price when looking back at these two sides’ most recent form. Norwich have seen Under 2.5 Goals in four of their last five in the league and it’s landed in three of Bristol City’s last five.
Over that period there have been nine goals, an average of 1.8 goals per game for the hosts. Their visitors have witnessed 11 goals at an average of 2.2 per game. You don’t have to be Stephen Hawking to work out that’s a combined average of 2 goals per game for these two sides over their last five respective fixtures.
Emiliano Buendia to Score Anytime
Now, I’m not going to try to put you off backing Teemu Pukki in the goalscoring markets here, I just think Emiliano Buendia is where the value is in this game. The Argentine is Norwich’s second-top scorer (7) behind Pukki (11) and we’re actually getting a bigger price on Buendia to Score Anytime than Pukki to Score First.
I’m not expecting tonnes of goals in this one, but with a lot of attention on Buendia amid various reports of a potential transfer to Arsenal, you know the 24-year-old is going to be well up for this in front of the TV cameras and that he’s going to be keen to show off his skills in pursuit of a dream transfer. He’s been in good goal-scoring form of late with the last of his league goals coming two games back and, with the insurance of backing him Anytime rather than first, Buendia is the play.
Tips for Norwich v Bristol City
Norwich To Win To Nil
Under 2.5 Goals
Emiliano Buendia to Score Anytime
* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widget, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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