Chelsea vs Norwich: Tuchel's men expected to dominate

Thomas Tuchel’s table-topping Chelsea welcome compatriot Daniel Farke’s Norwich side to Stamford Bridge for Saturday’s early kick-off, with the visitors rooted to the foot of the division.

It’s been a tough old return to the top flight for the Canaries, who have picked up just two points from their opening eight games - scoring twice and conceding 16 times in the process.

Back-to-back draws with Burnley and Brighton will have given fans faint hope for the season, but when you’re scoring an average of just 0.25 goals per game it’s understandably difficult for fans to get excited. Neither of the goals they have scored has come away from home either, and now they face a side that has made a habit of keeping opponents at bay; especially in their own backyard.

A 4-0 thrashing of Swedish side Malmö during the week saw them rack up their seventh clean sheet (and 4th at home) already this season, in just 11 Premier League and Champions League fixtures, with Andreas Christensen registering his 42nd clean sheet in his last 52 competitive games for club and country.

On the four occasions in which they have conceded they’ve conceded only four goals, and two of those were from the penalty spot, whilst three of them came against elite sides: Manchester City, Liverpool and Juventus. It paints a grim picture of Norwich’s chances on Saturday afternoon, though there is a little respite for them at the other end of the pitch.

Both Romelu Lukaku (twisted ankle) and Timo Werner (hamstring) left their midweek game with injuries that will see the duo miss at least ‘some games’ according to their manager, whilst Christian Pulisic continues his long absence with an ankle problem.

It’s a chance for the likes of Kai Havertz and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who combined off the bench for Chelsea’s 3rd goal, to step up and make the difference in their absence with no other recognised striker in the squad.

The away side will be without loanee midfielder Billy Gilmore who is ineligible to face his parent club, though that probably isn’t an issue for Farke who claimed last weekend that they were ‘not here to develop players for other clubs’.

Todd Cantwell is still unavailable, as he’s set to return to action for the U23 side on Friday evening, and they will have to make do without the services of both Sam Byram and Christoph Zimmerman who remain sidelined.

Ben Chilwell has been revitalised since breaking back into the Chelsea XI earlier this month. At one point it felt like his place in their best side had been nabbed by Marcos Alonso, but he struck back with a vengeance and impressed both defensively and offensively.

Since making his first Premier League start of the year against Southampton, he’s been playing like a man possessed. He’s had at least one shot on target in each of his four starts for club and country since then - managing 10 shots and 6 on target in that time.

It’s clear that the Blues are manufacturing shooting opportunities for their wing-backs too, with the aforementioned Alonso racking up 10 shots in his six starts too. Chilwell also ranks 1st (Alonso - 6th) among Chelsea players (to play 180 minutes or more) for shots on target per 90 in the Premier League.

As mentioned above, with Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner both absent from the side it looks likely that Kai Havertz will be entrusted to lead the line for Chelsea.

His coolly taken finish on Wednesday night - a 2nd goal in 3 games for him - will have done his confidence a world of good, whilst he registered season highs for shots and shots on target in that game.

I’d also recommend small stakes on this one as he’s been in fantastic scoring form as of late. He has three goals in his last four for club and country, and getting 10/1 on this when it’s as short as 7/2 elsewhere feels like fantastic value.

Entrusted to maintain order in this one is referee Andy Madley who has shown a meagre 1.75 bookings per game so far this season, having managed just 2.32 per game last term.

He hasn’t shown a red card yet either (his last one coming on January 12th - 20 games ago) or awarded a single penalty. Of the eight games he’s officiated this season, three haven’t seen a single booking.

Combine the likely outcome of this game, with a lenient referee and the slow nature of the early kick-offs and we might have a chance here.