Norwich vs. Man City Predictions: The Champions should have too much for Norwich on Saturday evening

Premier League Champions and league leaders head to Norfolk on Saturday evening as they look to keep up their charge towards another title. @scottythorn21 has previewed the game for us and provided two tips.

Man City have looked as formidable as ever so far this season. They’ve won 10 of their last 11 matches in competitions, the only blemish coming in a 1-1 draw against Southampton. Guardiola’s side come into this match 9 points clear at the top of the Premier League, having played 1 more game that their title rivals Liverpool. City will be keen to keep up this relentless pace and gain a firm grip on the league as they focus their attention on the Champions League in the latter months of the season, and Norwich is a game they will be expecting to win.

Norwich showed signs of improvement as soon as Dean Smith took the reigns at Carrow Road, but it is only recently that they have strung together a run of results that have got their fans dreaming of survival. The Canaries have won 4 of their last 6 matches in all competitions, and have suffered just the 1 defeat in that period. Smith will have been slightly disappointed with how his team surrendered the lead to draw 1-1 against Crystal Palace. Despite that disappointment, Norwich sit just 1 point from safety; hanging on to the coat tails of Newcastle and Everton. They will be looking to cause an upset here, in what will no doubt be seen as a free hit from the teams point of view, with nobody expecting Norwich to lay a glove on the champions elect.

Man City matches seldom see a lot of throws and much of this is down to how well Pep’s team control possession. City are patient in possession and their players seem to rarely take a poor touch that results in the ball going out of play. City’s last 10 matches average just under 28 throw-ins per game; they average 16.5, while their opponents average 11.4 over that period. Only 1 of City’s last 10 matches has seen more than 36 throws and this came against Brentford when there were 37, the only time the required line for this bet wouldn’t have landed. The last 3 head-to-heads between these sides saw 30, 30 and 31 throw ins in the match, so this also bodes well for our bet.

In Man City’s last 10 matches, their opponents average just under 10 goal kicks per game; I expect them to dominate proceedings and force similar numbers here. Norwich are averaging just over 6 goal kicks in their last 10 matches, but this just to over 13 goal kicks per game in their last 5 matches against stronger opposition (where they’ve been priced similarly to win). In their last 3 matches against City, Norwich have had 9, 23 and 12 goal kicks.

For the longer odds bet, I’ve taken the two angles for our main bet and taken a lower throw line and a higher goal kick line. This bet needs City to be on form and I think they will do just that with Liverpool ramping up the pressure after a convincing display against Leicester. 

City have won their two most recent matches against Norwich 5-0 and they are more than capable of putting anyone to the sword when they are at their rampant best.