English Premier
2011-12-20 - Wolverhampton vs Norwich City
A Sports Betting Pick by Lamps
Football : England : Premiership
Tuesday 20th December - Kickoff 7:45pm
Wolves
17th placed Wolves lost a close game at the weekend to Stoke and now the gap from the bottom 3 is just 1 point. On Tuesday night Mick McCarthy's side host Norwich and they can not afford to throw away more home points as they did at the weekend.
Wolves have the second worst away record in the league so winning their home games is imperative. The only bonus is that their record to this time last season is almost identical ranking 13th then and now. Their away form was last season at this stage was the worst in the league so they are at least improving ranking 19th!
Overall Wolves did stay up last season so you could argue they are on course to do so again however the really need some points in this one to ease the pressure.
Scoring goals has been Wolves problem lately, in their last 14 games they have been shut out 5 times and only scored more than once in 3 of these games. When they scored 2 or more, they win 2 of their 3 matches and hence I feel if they get a couple against Norwich that could be enough.
With 3 home wins this season against Fulham (2-0), Wigan (3-1) and Sunderland (2-1). Wolves tend to do well against the league's poorer travelers with those 3 ranked 13th, 14th and 17th away from home. Norwich are ranked 16th so the trends seem to favour Wolves for this one.
Wolves Team News
Craddock, Edwards, Foley, Kightly and O'Hara miss out for Wolves with O'Hara a big loss in the middle of the park.
I expect Guédioura to step in and partner Henry with Jarvis and Hunt wide, Jarvis played well at the weekend and hopefully he kick starts his season having disappointed for large spells.
Up top Doyle will partner Fletcher and the latter is the one to watch with the Scot scoring 3 of Wolves's last 4 goals.
At the back there is no new injury concerns with Johnson and Berra starting in the middle supported by Zubar and Ward with Hennessey in between the sticks.
Norwich City
Lambert's Norwich remain in the top 10 following an impressive draw at Everton. The East Anglian side has now picked up points in 3 of their last 4 games and come into this game high on confidence.
The fear for Norwich is back to back away games, whilst drawing with Everton was a good result they were battered for large spells in the second half with Ruddy playing excellently in goal.
That away point at the weekend was just their 6th this season. Norwich has won at Bolton (1-2) back in September but since then has lost 4 and drawn 2. I mentioned for the Everton game that their schedule has been brutal with away games at Liverpool, United, City, Chelsea already this season. In that run the only point gained was at Liverpool in a 1-1 drawn but they have scored in 7 of their 8 away games this season and will certainly carry a goal threat on Tuesday evening.
Whilst scoring goals is a huge asset to the side, conceding them is a massive liability. Not a single clean sheet for Ruddy this season and despite his heroics at the weekend he was finally beaten by a Osman goal and whilst Wolves are not the best scorers I fancy them to get one at home.
Norwich City Team News
De Laet, Martin, Vaughan and Ward miss out for the visit to Molineux.Lambert will most likely stick with the side that performed so well at the weekend with a few players rotated.
Morison and Holt should start up top in a 4-4-2. The midfield has some creativeness about it with Hoolahan, Pilkington and Crofts decent midfielders and with O'Hara missing for Wolves their evenings work should be less stressful.
The back 4 should stay the same but with no clean sheets this season it's not a lineup defensively that I'm totally convinced by.
The Betting Verdict
I think we will see a few goals in this one. Norwich can't buy a clean sheet whilst at the other end only United has kept them out on the road and that was a miracle after Norwich squandered at least 3 great chances.
Wolves don't have a home clean sheet since mid August some 7 games ago but they have scored in their last 5 at home and this seems the best angle on the game.
I wanted to back the home side and go against the weekend's form but after getting burnt on McCarthy's side once already, I don't want to be burnt twice in 4 days!
The overs line also tempted me but if that hits I think Wolves win and as I'm not prepared to take that on I'll stick with both to score with the home side most likely to narrowly take the points. Home Win.
Good Luck
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
Wolves 2-1 Norwich
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Both Teams to Score at 1.733 at Ladbrokes
