English Premier
2011-10-29 - Norwich City vs Blackburn Rovers
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Football : England : Premier League
Saturday, October 29th, 2011, 3:00PM GMT
PREVIEW
Norwich City are priced as strong favourites to beat visiting Blackburn Rovers after holding Liverpool to a draw and getting the rest of the week off. Blackburn have put in some truly admirable performances, and I think they come here riding a bit of a wave. Their confidence will be up after what happened in midweek, and I don't think Norwich are worth a bet here.
Norwich are 8th now, having come back to draw 1-1 with Liverpool but that score does not tell the whole story. Liverpool were very unlucky not to have scored a few more and won it, having hit the woodwork way too many times. Norwich also have a 2-1 win against Sunderland and a 3-1 result over Swansea in their last 2 home games, but what interests me is their inability to keep a clean sheet.
The fact is, Norwich have not kept a clean sheet at home all season, despite not losing in front of their fans. And it's not like they've been playing the cream of the bunch either. The teams that have come and scored here are almost all in the 2nd half of the table. John Ruddy is proving to be a decent keeper, but he's coming up against a Blackburn side that will have some belief in itself, and playing their hearts out for their manager.
Poor Steve Kean has to put up with sh*t from the Blackburn fans every game, and yet the players have done him proud in the last 2 matches, putting in maximum effort against Sp*rs and Newcastle. Last weekend Blackburn lost 2-1 to Tottenham but could so easily have taken points.
Then in midweek Blackburn played their hearts out against Newcastle, who are unbeaten in the Premier League, taking the Geordies to extra time, where they won 4-3. Those two dogged and resilient performances must have boosted team morale, and I trust them to give Norwich a damn good fight, at the very least.
I did mention Norwich have allowed a goal in every home game. Well, bad as they have been, Blackburn have managed to score in every away game so far! Blackburn have, sadly, let in the 2nd most goals in the league, which is why they sit dead last in the tables.
Norwich should be able to score on Blackburn as they might just suffer a little from playing 120 minutes of football. However, 3 of the last 4 matches here have ended in a draw, and that looks the likeliest result to me.
After all, Blackburn have not been beaten by Norwich the last 8 matches in all competitions. Last season, Blackburn met the Canaries in the Carling Cup and won it 3-1, although that was at Ewood Park.
BETTING VERDICT
Bets against Norwich City aren't the worst idea in the world, but I shall trust both offences to score at least a goal, based on trends.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Both Teams To Score
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Both Teams To Score @ 1.72 (Bet365)
