Clear-cut number for the Londoners?
After an interim upward trend in November, Norwich City were able to reduce the gap to the rescue bank to three points. However, the Canaries are still in acute danger of relegation, which is primarily due to their weak attack. Only eight goals from 19 league games is a historic negative. Never before has a team in the Premier League been less dangerous in front of the opponent’s goal in the first half of the season.
The Hammers, who have suffered several setbacks in the last two months but are still fighting for the Champions League, are the clear favourites. In the run-up to the match between West Ham and Norwich, the odds are swinging in the direction of the Londoners.
The fact that Norwich have not lost their first league match of the calendar year in any of the last eight years (five wins, three draws) speaks in favour of the tame visitors from the east of England. However, the last defeat at the start of the year was at West Ham United in 2013.
Considering that the Canaries have only scored three away goals in the 2021/22 season, we think there is a lot to be said for betting on a win for the Hammers against Norwich.
West Ham – Statistics & current form
On 29 December 2019, David Moyes took over as West Ham United coach. Almost exactly two years later, the club is in better shape than it has been for a long time and, as the current fifth-placed team in the Premier League, can dream of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time.
The Irons are also doing really well on the international stage, having qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League, where they are among the title contenders according to the 2022 Europa League winners’ forecast.
After a small slump, three wins in a row
However, the Londoners slipped into a small crisis after the international break in November, winning only one of seven consecutive league games (two draws, four defeats).
Just in time for the turn of the year, however, the Hammers recently returned to winning ways. In the league, the last two games against Watford (4:1) and Crystal Palace (3:2) were won, before nothing went wrong in the FA Cup against Leeds United (2:0) during the week. In total, there are now three wins in a row on the record.
None of the last eight league home games lost to Norwich
With a correspondingly broad chest, the Londoners can now welcome the Premier League’s bottom team for the first league home game of 2022. The betting on a home win for West Ham against Norwich is also historically under a good star, because none of the last eight league home games against the Canaries was lost (four wins, four draws).
Given that the Londoners have also won both league games against Norwich in 2019/20, it could be another similarly commanding win against the very tame Yellows.
Predicted West Ham line-up:
Fabianski – Johnson – Diop – Dawson – Coufal – Soucek – Rice – Benrahma – Lanzini – Bowen – Antonio
Last matches played by West Ham:
FA Cup
01/09 2022 – West Ham 2 – 0 Leeds
Premier League
01/01 2022 – Crystal Palace 2 – 3 West Ham
12/28 2021 – Watford 1 – 4 West Ham
12/26 2021 – West Ham 2 – 3 Southampton
Carabao Cup
12/22 2021 – Tottenham 2 – 1 West Ham
Norwich – Statistics & current form
Norwich City Football Club returned to the top flight of English football last summer after relegation from the Premier League as Championship champions. But once again, the Canaries are finding it extremely difficult to keep up with the top teams in the motherland of football.
Despite a change of manager, the Yellows have only two wins from 19 league games, leaving them with the red lantern. With the Yellows only three points off the bottom, the last word has not yet been spoken.
First eight goals from the first 19 league games
However, in order to stay in the Premier League, the kickers from the capital of County Norfolk desperately need more points. And for that, in turn, the East Anglians’ incredibly tame attack, which has scored just eight goals in 19 league games, must finally improve.
Never before in the history of the Premier League has a team been so tame as the Canaries, who apart from top scorer Teemu Pukki (five goals) have only had defensive players score.
Five losses in a row with 0:14 goals
The problem is undoubtedly the fact that Farke’s successor Dean Smith, who has never won against West Ham in five attempts in his coaching career, has also not been able to get to grips with the attacking lack of goals.
In the last seven league games under his leadership alone, only two points were scored and only one goal was scored. Most recently, there have been five defeats in a row with 0:14 goals.
Predicted Norwich line-up:
Gunn – Giannoulis – Gibson – Sörensen – Bryam – McLean – Gilmour – Tzolis – Melou – Placheta – Idah
Last matches played by Norwich:
FA Cup
01/09 2022 – Charlton 0 – 1 Norwich
Premier League
12/28 2021 – Crystal Palace 3 – 0 Norwich
12/26 2021 – Norwich 0 – 5 Arsenal London
12/14 2021 – Norwich 0 – 2 Aston Villa
12/11 2021 – Norwich 0 – 1 Manchester United
West Ham – Norwich Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
Head to head: 30 – 22 – 22
There have been a total of 74 meetings between the two teams so far and the Hammers lead the head-to-head comparison with 30 wins. Most recently, the Londoners won both the first (2-0) and second (4-0) legs against Norwich in the 2019/20 season without conceding a goal.
West Ham – Norwich Tip
Our prediction for West Ham against Norwich is based on the one hand on the end of the Hammers’ dry spell, which saw them return to winning ways after a small slump between the end of November and the end of December, when they won three games in a row. And on the other hand, of course, the Canaries’ poor form plays a role, as they have lost five games in a row with 0:14 goals.
We see the greatest value in betting on the Hammers to win nil, also because of the visitors’ lack of danger in front of goal.
