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Norwich City didn’t have much to cheer about when last in the Premier League in 2019/20, but the undoubted highlight was their 3-2 victory over Manchester City at Carrow Road. And even though Pep Guardiola’s side eventually trailed Liverpool by 18 points that season, the defeat was a rarity for them too.
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The latest football odds are on PaddyPower.com right nowThey only dropped points in four games against teams that finished in the bottom half of the table that season, and just twice when winning the league in 2020/21. Heading into the weekend, it’s only happened once this season too. Add in that Manchester City have won the last two meetings with Norwich 5-0 (albeit both were at home) and the only question appears to be how many will the league leaders win by here?
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Saturday 5.30pm: Norwich v Manchester City
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League
While his task looks to be a forlorn one – Norwich are currently red hot favourites in the Relegation market – Dean Smith has steered his side’s form in the right direction since he took over in November. They have averaged a point per game since he took over, which across a whole season would normally be enough to stay up, and there are six teams in the division who have worse records during Smith’s time in east Anglia (Dean’s, not Delia’s).
The Canaries also won three games straight in all competitions prior to their 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Wednesday night. But those victories have to be put into the context of facing the likely champions.
Both Teams to Score? No
Norwich’s recent league wins came against Everton and Watford, and in both cases the beaten side were so embarrassed they immediately fired their managers. Against the teams who go into the weekend in the top seven in the league Norwich have lost all eight matches.
To make matters worse they haven’t scored a single goal in those games (and they’re the lowest scoring side in the division overall anyway), while conceding a vomit-inducing 27 goals. Only they and Leeds have yet to take a point from the Premier League’s established big six clubs this season.
The visitors have the best defensive record in the league and joint-best on the road too. City haven’t been flawless, looking pretty sluggish in their previous away league game, a 1-1 draw at Southampton, but with the difference between these sides as vast as it is you have to assume it will end in an away win to nil and Both Teams to Score? No.
Over 2.5 goals
That Norwich were beaten 5-0 by Arsenal says everything you need to know about their chances here, in truth. It also hints at the likelihood they will concede a bag full of goals once again.
City haven’t been that scintillating away from home this season – Liverpool have 10 more goals on the road, for instance – but they scored three at Watford and four at Newcastle. Pep Guardiola loves nothing more than seeing his side pummel clubs who exist on a wildly different financial plain and City should be good for at least three and, therefore, Over 2.5 Goals here.
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Over 12.5 corners
Both of these sides would be happy to see the league table decided by number of corners won, as City are comfortably top and Norwich are safely ensconced in mid-table. While it would be a surprise if the home side had too many in this match, they are near the top of the ‘corners per shot’ standings, suggesting they may have a few even though shots are likely to be thin on the ground for them.
With City guaranteed to have plenty – Norwich have conceded the most in the division – then it makes sense to take Over 12.5 Corners, the highest line in the corner market.
Under 2.5 Cards
The last two meetings of these teams featured just three yellow cards in total, with one of those bookings occurring in stoppage time. However, as both matches were 5-0 wins for City there’s every chance the Canaries barely got close enough to kick them if they had wanted to.
Even so, these sides are both handily placed in the fair play table, and match referee Andre Marriner is one of the few established officials in the Premier League who books players at a below average rate. With the visitors likely to win easily enough, it shouldn’t be the fiercest match of the weekend, so let’s select Under 2.5 Cards for our coupon.
Norwich v Man City tips
Both Teams to Score? No
Over 2.5 Goals
Over 12.5 Corners
Under 2.5 Cards
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