This Saturday afternoon’s fixture from St Andrew’s is an opening-weekend Championship encounter between Birmingham City and Norwich City.
Birmingham endured a disappointing season last time out, in which they were involved in a relegation battle and eventually placed 19th. Garry Monk is the new man in the dugout, having taken charge in early March and his five wins from 11 matches led them to safety.
Norwich will also be disappointed by their efforts last campaign as they finished in just 14th place. Daniel Farke remained the coach in control then and has been given another season to prove himself amid a high turnover of players.
The first meeting between Birmingham City and Norwich City last season came in September in East Anglia, with the Canaries winning 1-0. They completed the double over the Blues on Boxing Day, coming out on top 2-0 in the Midlands.
Read on for our Birmingham City v Norwich City stats, team news, predictions and betting tips.
Birmingham City v Norwich City betting Tips
18+ only. Ts&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org
Birmingham are marginal favourites for the game, which seems about fair given the home and away results recorded by each side last season. Five of the last eight fixtures Norwich played on the road ended in a draw, which looks the most likely outcome here.
Seven of the last eight Championship games the Canaries have played on the road, meanwhile, have seen both teams score, and five of Birmingham’s last six at all grounds resulted in the same, so taking the draw and both teams to score makes sense.
Game to end in a draw and both teams to score – 7/2
Odds correct at time of publishing (03/08/2018, 18:30)
18+ only. Ts&Cs apply. BeGambleAware.org
What can Birmingham and Norwich expect from the 18/19 Championship season?
The Blues ended the season in 19th, and bookmakers expect a similar campaign. They are down as 17th-place favourites for the title and need to improve on their away form, which was the second-worst in the division last time out, collecting just 13 points.
A lack of goals was an issue. Just 38 were scored by Norwich, the joint-lowest in the Championship. They have done little to address this through transfers as just one player, Kristian Pedersen, has been signed to date.
Their defence was the eighth-weakest in the division, though at home they were strong, shipping just 24 goals. Monk will hope a summer working with the unit as well as the addition of the previously mentioned Pedersen will prove enough.
The Canaries are the bookmakers’ tenth favourites for the season, and they ended the last campaign in 14th. They will hope a second summer under Farke makes a difference in a busy transfer window that saw nine out and nine in.
A lack of goals was an issue for the East Anglian outfit, too, as they were the sixth-lowest scorers with 49 goals. James Maddison got 14 of these, but he has been sold to Leicester and Jordan Rhodes, Teemu Pukki and Emiliano Buendia must step up to fill this gap.
The defence was inconsistent, conceding 60 times, and though Norwich did go through spells where they showed an ability to keep clean sheets, there were also periods where they demonstrated a tendency to leak goals in equal measure. Angus Gunn is no longer in goal but experienced ‘keeper Tim Krul takes his place between the sticks and a full summer with Grant Hanley should help them tighten things up, Monk would hope.
Birmingham vs Norwich team news
David Davis (ankle) and Nicolai Brock-Madsen (thigh) are doubts for this game for the Midlands side.
For Norwich, Jordan Rhodes and Matt Jarvis (both ankle) are doubts while Carlton Morris (cruciate) is out for another few weeks.
The post Birmingham City v Norwich City stats, team news, predictions and betting tips appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka NewsSquawka News https://ift.tt/2MhtQ03
No comments:
Post a Comment