Sunderland v Norwich City
Football: English Premier League
Wednesday 1 February 2012 - Kick Off 8pm
This game is live on TV

---

Sunderland

There is no doubt that Martin O'Neill is one of the finest man-managers in the Premier League and his arrival at the Stadium of Light has seen Sunderland have an upturn in fortunes. Fans are beginning to really get behind this revolution at the club, but it will be interesting to see how it develops once the 'honeymoon' period is over.

The Black Cats are 11th in the Premier League table, a far cry from around 6 weeks ago when the looked to be on a slippery slope down to the relegation zone. O'Neill will be looking to improve the record at the Stadium of Light where Sunderland are 4-4-3 this season, scoring 16 goals and conceding 11.

It was slightly disappointing for the home fans that Sunderland could only draw 1-1 at home against local rivals Middlesbrough in the FA Cup on Sunday, but that also means they have lost just 2 of their 10 games under O'Neill. Sunderland have lost just 1 of their last 10 games at the Stadium of Light in all competitions, and are unbeaten in all 5 under their new manager (won 3, drew 2).

Nicklas Bendtner, Lee Cattermole, Wes Brown and David Vaughan are all out, while Frazier Campbell will likely have to start off the bench despite scoring the equaliser on Sunday.

Norwich City

Paul Lambert continues to defy the expectations and has now guided his Norwich City into the 5th Round of the FA Cup in what has been a remarkable season all around for the club. After back to back promotions from League One and The Championship, I am still very impressed with what Norwich have managed to do so far.

The Canaries are still perched in the top half of the table despite other teams playing on Tuesday night and they have the potential to be as high as 8th if they win on Wednesday night. Norwich have been tough to beat away from home, compiling a 3-4-4 record, scoring 15 goals and conceding 21.

If Sunderland are in a good run of form, Norwich can point to their own run of just 1 defeat in their last 10 games in all competitions. There should be plenty of confidence in the side that comes from winning 4 of their last 5 games in all competitions, and they are unbeaten in their last 5 away games. Norwich have won 3 in a row on their travels, 2 of those coming in the Premier League.

Paul Lambert made a few changes to his starting XI in the Cup win at West Brom on Saturday and I expect there will be a number of players recalled. Bradley Johnson, Steve Morison, John Ruddy and Andrew Surman are some of those that can be expected to be in the starting line up.

Head to Head

Norwich City beat Sunderland 2-1 at Carrow Road earlier this season in a live TV game on a Monday night.

They haven't enjoyed that much success on their visits to Sunderland, losing on their last 3 visits, although the last of those came in the 2006/07 season.

Prediction

This should be a decent game for the TV cameras on Wednesday evening as both sides have been in very decent nick coming into this one.

Sunderland have been playing with a lot more confidence since O'Neill came through the doors at the Stadium of Light, but I think he might have a few problems in this game as he is missing some key personnel. I still expect them to put a lot of effort into the game, as they have in all the games recently, but I do think Norwich are more than capable of testing them.

Norwich have been in fine form of late, winning 4 of their last 5 games and losing 1 in 10 games, and I expect they do see this game as another one where they can attempt to get something to further aid them in their chances of staying in the Premier League.

It is a tough game to call and I was very much considering taking Norwich not to lose the game at odds against... I just don't believe Sunderland have come out of a honeymoon period under O'Neill so I will take a chance on this one ending in a stalemate, a point that will likely satisfy both managers privately.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Sunderland 1-1 Norwich City

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

I'll take a chance on the Draw @ 3.60