England Premier League
Saturday 24th August 2019
Kick off at 12.30pm BST
Venue: Carrow Road
Match Preview:
Norwich produced a brilliant win over Newcastle last weekend and it was a big one for the club that would have given the players the right shot in the arm and a wealth of confidence coming into this game.
The Canaries actually played good football in their 4-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool and it was felt that a performance was needed in their next home game. What Norwich did then was put Steve Bruce’s Newcastle to the sword. Not only did they have more possession of the ball, they also created plenty of chances and had 8 shots on target. One particular player who has stood out not just for the club but in the new Premier League campaign is Teemu Pukki, who scored a superb hat trick and has netted 4 goals already this season. The 29 year old has been around and played at clubs such as Celtic and Brondby and scored 29 goals in the Championship for Norwich last season.
For Chelsea it has been somewhat of a testing time for new manager Frank Lampard. The Blues have played some good football but are yet to win this season. Their opening match ended in defeat against Manchester United, but the result would have been alarming as they lost 4-0. Then there was the trip to Turkey to play Liverpool in the Super Cup, which ended 2-2 after extra time. Holding the European champions was encouraging but ultimately Lampard’s team were beaten on penalties, and that would have been disappointing. However the worst result was to come when Lampard, managing his first game at Stamford Bridge saw his side take the lead only to see Leicester claw back a goal and salvage a draw.
It is unfortunate that the media spin is already starting up for Lampard who is so early into his career as manager of the Blues, but there will be increased pressure on him and Chelsea if they fail to win this game.
Team News:
Norwich: Josip Drmic has a hamstring injury and whilst no update has been given he is unlikely to take part in this game. Onel Hernandez has suffered a knee injury and will reportedly miss the next 3 months. Timm Klose is recovering from a hip injury and is 50/50 to return for this game. Christoph Zimmerman will be unavailable until the end of the month as he is recovering from a knee injury
Chelsea: Antonio Rudiger should be back in the squad after fitness issues. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi have longer term injuries, but there are no new injuries for Frank Lampard’s team
Norwich vs Chelsea Head to Head:
The last time the teams met was in 2018 in the FA Cup where the game ended 1-1 but Chelsea advanced on penalties.
In the Premier League this will be the first fixture between the two since 2016. Chelsea won the game 2-1 at Carrow Road.
Norwich have no wins against Chelsea in the last 12 meetings.
There is a 60% chance based on recent matches that there will be under 2.5 goals.
Norwich vs Chelsea Prediction:
Let’s be honest the pressure is more on Chelsea than it is with Norwich. Norwich will be expected to drop points in this game, although we know that the club are playing some good, tidy football and if they can have the capabilities to attack and play good football at Anfield then why won’t they do even better at home against Chelsea? The club will have no pressure on them at all, and because of that they could be naive at the back but deadly in attack.
As for Chelsea it isn’t time to panic just yet of course and a win here would go a long way towards that but at the same time one questions how this team will react to pressure especially if they go behind in this game. They do have a better squad than their hosts, but they had a better squad than Leicester, were at home, and still couldn’t get the three points. We’re going to back Norwich here to get the win for us on the handicap and Pukki could well continue his brilliant start to the season.
Norwich vs Chelsea Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (+1.0 Norwich) at 1.575
Anytime goalscorer: Teemu Pukki at 2.50
Over 9.5 corners at 1.50
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