Aston Villa Vs Norwich City
Thursday 26th December 2019 – 15:00 Kick-Off
English Premier League
Pick: Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score
Odds: 8/11
Bookmaker: Bet365
English Premier League Betting at 22Bet
(All betting odds displayed were correct at time of writing: 24th December at 08:35)
Preview: Another crucial battle at the bottom of the table as Aston Villa seek to turn around a drastically poor run of results, which has seen them lose four straight Premier League games, when they entertain Norwich City at Villa Park.
Aston Villa Vs Norwich City Live Stats & Betting Odds
Aston Villa Preview – No better fixture to halt barren spell?
Fans were in celebratory mood when their club booked a place in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup with a thumping 5-0 victory over a second-string Liverpool. Those same fans were left with a sense of despair and utter disbelief as the full-time whistle blew on their match with Southampton only days later, losing a crunch encounter with a relegation rival 3-1 on home soil. So having already failed miserably in one relegation six-pointer, Aston Villa (18th – W4 D3 L11, GF24 GA33) are presented with another here.
This fixture could hardly be at a more inopportune moment, though, with the team out of form – defeat to Southampton making it four such results on the spin, conceding an alarming eleven goals in the process – but also missing key first-team personnel. John McGinn, who suffered a fractured ankle in last week’s defeat, now joins defensive stalwart Tyrone Mings on the sidelines. The midfielder contributed three goals and two assists for Dean Smith’s side before his injury: only three-mates have more goal involvements since the start of the campaign.
Even greater onus now falls on star man Jack Grealish, the midfielder-turned-winger who has tried his best to carry this team on his shoulders in recent weeks. His superb strike against Southampton taking his tally in the league for this season to five, while the supremely talented 24-year-old has now scored three of his team’s previous four goals – none of which were accompanied by a win. He, more than anyone else, could soon cut a frustrated figure unless Villa somehow snap their losing streak.
Norwich City Preview – Entertainment guaranteed with Canaries?
Lack of consistency has been among a number of reasons as to why Norwich City (19th – W3 D3 L12, GF19 GA37) have struggled more than any of the newly-promoted clubs to maintain a steady stream of points coming in. A woeful defence that has conceded on average two goals a game being another. Both were in evidence during their 2-1 loss to Wolves at Carrow Road before Christmas, despite leading early into proceedings through midfielder Todd Cantwell’s fifth league goal of the season.
Succumbing to defeat at home to Wolves came shortly after a hard-fought and thoroughly deserved 1-1 draw away to Leicester City, more than holding their own – to the dismay of many whom predicted otherwise – to claim an unlikely point against a team still second in the table. Unfortunately, the momentum garnered at the King Power Stadium was relinquished last time out, meaning it is back to the drawing board for Canaries boss Daniel Farke, whose team remain without a win in five (D2 L3).
In fact, a 2-0 win away at Everton in late November remains this team’s only win for well over three months now (W1 D3 L9). An entirely unsurprisingly state of affairs bearing in mind how hampered this team continues to be by a backline which simply cannot stem the flow of goals being conceded. No team has shipped more than their 37 so far, allowing the opposition two goals a game on average. The flip side, however, is that going forward they do pose a threat having now scored in their last six league encounters.
Aston Villa Vs Norwich City – Key Facts:
- Aston Villa are enduring a torrid run of four consecutive Premier League defeats (to Chelsea, Leicester, Sheffield Utd and Southampton).
- Norwich have kept only two clean sheets all season. Meanwhile, each of their previous five encounters produced both teams to score.
- Last season’s meetings in the Championship were both won 2-1 by Norwich. However, Aston Villa were handsome 5-1 winners in this season’s encounter at Carrow Road.
Betting Summary
Another hugely significant fixture featuring teams at the wrong end of the Premier League. Aston Villa (11/10 Betfair) will be seeking to arrest a four-game losing run at home to the division’s leakiest defence in Norwich City (47/20 Unibet). This will be their second meeting of the season after the first produced end-to-end football crammed full with attacking endeavour, chances aplenty and six goals at Carrow Road. Five of those going to the visitors that day as Aston Villa recorded their largest margin of victory all season when winning 5-1.
Just five clean sheets between them so far renders the probability of either defence coming out on top a very slim prospect. Especially as both sides boast talented, hungry forwards who will get forward at every opportunity knowing full well the respective weaknesses that reside in either backlines. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the odds on goals is prohibitively short. However, goals are precisely what I expect from this encounter. Over 3.5 Goals is slim at 11/8 (BetVictor) but has solid claims nonetheless.
