Fulham vs Norwich City Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2012-08-18 - Fulham vs Norwich City

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Fulham v Norwich City
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 18 August 2012 - Kick Off 3pm

Fulham

Martin Jol enters his second season as manager of Fulham and the expectations of the fans will be for them to surpass their 9th placed finish from last season, although that will be a tough ask. A lot will depend on whether they can spurn the advances of the likes of Liverpool for their key players like Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele, while a new look strikeforce will need to blend together.

The foundation for the Cottagers success comes at home where they were 10-5-4 last season, scoring 36 goals and conceding 26, and the importance of their form at Craven Cottage is shown by the fact they had 10 of their 14 wins here.

Jol really started getting the best out of his side here as the season was drawing to a close last season and they did go 5-1-1 in their final 7 home games in the Premier League. 4 of the sides that finished in the bottom half of the table did earn at least a point from their visit to Fulham, but it is beating these sides that have kept the Cottagers away from trouble for the most part.

Hugo Rodallega and Mladen Petric are expected to be the first choice strike force for Fulham this season and should start in this one having been brought in over the Summer.

Norwich City

Paul Lambert did a wonderful job in his three years in charge of Norwich City, guiding them to back to back promotions and also ensuring they maintained their place in the top flight. This season he has moved on to Aston Villa, but the appointment of Chris Hughton looks a smart choice considering the way he has performed in charge of Newcastle United and Birmingham City previously.

The Canaries were a surprise outfit last season as they had been one of the favourites for relegation but ended up finishing in a comfortable 14th place. Once again they are being written off by the press and a lot of people are tipping them to return to the Championship, but I think that is under-estimating the area in which Hughton will be influential.

Norwich conceded 66 goals in the League last season (only the bottom three conceded more), but Hughton will be looking to make them more solid defensively. The key will be that their forward players continue getting the goals, and I think that could be the case now they bring in Robert Snodgrass to provide better wing play. They finished 5-5-9 away from home last season, scoring 24 goals and conceding 36.

Grant Holt is still at the club as he withdrew a transfer request and he should lead the line in this one. Snodgrass has a very good cross on him and he should be in the team to provide better service into the box for the big men. Michael Turner was also signed to bring in more strength at centre half, although he has been an injury prone player over the last couple of seasons.

Head to Head

Fulham beat Norwich City 2-1 here last season, scoring two goals in the first 13 minutes and holding on for the win.

That result means they have won 4 of their last 5 home games against Norwich in the League with the other ending in a draw.

Prediction

A lot of people seem to be tipping Norwich City for relegation this season, but I think they will be fine under the guidance of Chris Hughton who has had his previous two teams show some good, solid defensive shape.

However, I am not sure he will make the best of starts as Fulham are one of the better home teams in the Premier League and part of an elite set of 8 clubs that had double-digit wins at home last season.

I expect the team to be a little more aware of what is expected of them in Martin Jol's second season in charge and they should be able to get off to a good start and pick up three points from this one. They rely heavily on their home form to keep themselves out of trouble and I think Fulham will have targeted games like these are 'must win'.

I'll look for Fulham to pick up the three points in this one.

The Statistics :

FULHAM LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-05-06	W	2-1	H v Sunderland
	2012-04-21	W	2-1	H v Wigan
	2012-04-09	D	1-1	H v Chelsea
	2012-03-31	W	2-1	H v Norwich
	2012-03-17	L	0-3	H v Swansea
	2012-03-04	W	5-0	H v Wolves

NORWICH LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-05-05	D	3-3	A v Arsenal
	2012-04-21	L	2-0	A v Blackburn
	2012-04-09	W	1-2	A v Tottenham
	2012-03-31	L	2-1	A v Fulham
	2012-03-18	L	1-0	A v Newcastle
	2012-03-03	L	1-0	A v Stoke_City