Swansea vs Norwich City Betting Pick | English Premier

English Premier

2012-02-11 - Swansea vs Norwich City

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Swansea v Norwich City
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 11 February 2012 - Kick Off 3pm

Swansea

How many people would have predicted Swansea would be sitting in the top half of the table with just 14 League games left to play this season? After starting the season as the favourites to finish in the relegation zone, Brendan Rodgers has really surprised people with the way he has his team playing, and he will be looking for one final push to ensure they are still a Premier League club in May.

Swansea moved up to 10th in the Premier League last week having picked up 30 points from their first 24 games this season. They have begun to find their feet away from the Liberty Stadium, but it is here that they have picked up the majority of their points this season. The Swans are 5-6-1 here so far this season, scoring 16 goals and conceding 7, with only Manchester City conceding less at home so far.

A win at West Brom last week means the team have now lost just 1 of their last 7 games in the Premier League, although they have been knocked out at Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup during that run. They have gone unbeaten in their last 6 games at the Liberty Stadium, although 4 of those have ended in draws, and they have not kept a clean sheet here since early December, a run of 4 games.

Brendan Rodgers can call on a full squad of players for this game and he may decide to play the same XI that beat West Brom at the Hawthornes last week.

Norwich City

Norwich City continue bouncing back to form and look set to extend their stay in to the top flight after a very successful season. The biggest issue for the Canaries this Summer may be keeping teams disinterested in their manager Paul Lambert, whose reputation has really increased after his successes at Carrow Road.

The team are 9th in the Premier League table, another surprise top half entrant, and they have picked up 32 points so far this season, probably around 9 short of confirming their place in the top flight for the 2012/13 season. They have a 3-4-5 record away from home so far, scoring 15 goals and conceding 24, making their away games the joint highest scoring in the League.

Norwich have lost just 1 of their last 8 games in all competitions, and have moved through to the 5th Round of the FA Cup in that time too. The Canaries lost their last away game at Sunderland, going down 3-0, but they had been unbeaten in their previous 5 games on their travels. Goals have not been a problem before the Sunderland game either, with Norwich scoring 8 in their previous 4 away games.

Marc Tierney and Daniel Ayala are ruled out for this game, but Zak Whitbread will be hoping he can recover in time although he is currently listed as being doubtful.

Head to Head

Norwich City and Swansea exchanged 3 goals in the first 12 minutes when they met at Carrow Road earlier this season, that game finishing in a 3-1 win for the home side.

Swansea have enjoyed a lot of success at home against Norwich down the years, winning 4 of their last 5 encounters at home.

The Swans beat Norwich 3-0 here last season.

Prediction

I like watching Norwich City play this season as their games seem to have a huge number of chances in them, for both themselves and the opponents and I think this will be no difference this week.

Both teams can play with a little more freedom after earning 30 points or more already this season, and I think both will look at this fixture as one that could really set them on the path to another season in the Premier League if they can pick up the three points.

It is telling that both teams have also been scoring and conceding goals in similar measures in recent weeks and that points out to defences getting a little tired and allowing a few more spaces to be exploited.

Swansea had had a very good home defensive record but have begun conceding goals here, while Norwich are playing in high-scoring games more often than not. With both teams expected to score, and the hope to push for a winner, I am going for the Overs here.

The Statistics :

SWANSEA LAST SIX HOME FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-01-31	D	1-1	H v Chelsea
	2012-01-15	W	3-2	H v Arsenal
	2011-12-31	D	1-1	H v Tottenham
	2011-12-27	D	1-1	H v QPR
	2011-12-10	W	2-0	H v Fulham
	2011-11-27	D	0-0	H v Aston_Villa

NORWICH LAST SIX AWAY FORM
	DATE	RESULT		OPPOSITION
	2012-02-01	L	3-0	A v Sunderland
	2012-01-14	W	1-2	A v WBA
	2012-01-02	W	1-2	A v QPR
	2011-12-20	D	2-2	A v Wolves
	2011-12-17	D	1-1	A v Everton
	2011-12-03	L	5-1	A v Man_City