English Premier
2011-12-20 - Wolves vs Norwich City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Tuesday 20 December 2011 - Kick Off 7:45pm
Wolves
Mick McCarthy was disappointed to see his side blow a 1-0 lead at home at the weekend to fall to a defeat to Stoke City and will be hoping they can get back on course as they sink closer and closer to the relegation zone. He will be hoping he can at least send the fans home a little happier before Christmas and not give the boo-boys a chance to rear their head.
Wolves are 17th in the Premier League table having gained 14 points from their opening 16 games of the season, leaving them just 1 point better off than Wigan in the final relegation spot. They are 3-1-4 at Molineux this season, scoring 11 goals and conceding 13.
Wolves had a bit of luck a couple of weeks ago when turning a 0-1 home deficit into a 2-1 win over Sunderland, but they have lost back to back League games since then, including the 1-2 home loss to Stoke. Wolves have won just 2 of their last 12 games in all competitions and they have lost 9 of those games. They had won 2 games in a row at Molineux before the loss to Stoke.
Jamie O'Hara has been all but ruled out of this game and should be back on Boxing Day. David Edwards, Kevin Foley and Jody Craddock are all ruled out.
Norwich City
Paul Lambert continues to defy the experts by getting the best out of his Norwich City side but he will be well aware that there is still a lot of work to be done if they are to retain their Premier League status. The team have yet to keep a clean sheet this season as they prepare to face a team that could be a potential relegation rival in May.
The Canaries are flying high in 9th spot in the Premier League and have picked up 20 points from their opening games of the season and are half way to the 40 point mark that usually signifies safety. Much of their points have been picked up at Carrow Road and they are 1-3-4 away from home, scoring 9 goals and conceding 17. Only Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers have conceded more away goals than Norwich so far this season.
Norwich have only lost 1 of their last 4 games in the Premier League, picking up 7 points from a possible 12 to move up the table. The team have scored at least 1 goal in their last 4 away games, but they have failed to win any of those games and have only picked up 2 points from their last 5 away games.
Ritchie De Laet remains absent until after Christmas and he is joined on the sidelines by Elliot Ward. Paul Lambert has no other injury worries from the weekend draw at Everton.
Head to Head
Wolves and Norwich City last met in the 2008/09 season when both were playing in the Championship- they drew 3-3 at Molinuex and also combined for 8 goals in the game at Carrow Road.
Wolves have won 4 of their last 6 home games against Norwich, although 2 of the last 3 have ended in draws.
Prediction
This is a really tough game to predict in my opinion as all 3 results are a distinct possibility and so we have to focus on other markets here.
The 'Over 2.5 Goals' is sure to be popular as neither defence has been playing that well, but that is very short in my opinion and instead I am going to focus on the goalscorer market.
At this stage I was very interested in Steven Fletcher being on the scoresheet at any time for Wolves- Fletcher has been in fine form of late, scoring 5 goals in the last 7 games he has played for Wolves and he is almost certain to be leading the line for them again in this game.
With Norwich struggling defensively, I can see Fletcher having a chance or two to add to his recent record and at prices of 2.88, it looks a little too good to pass up.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Wolves 2-1 Norwich City
