Does Norwich take advantage of the Red Devils’ weak spell?

An exciting and important clash takes place at Old Trafford on the 33rd matchday of the Premier League. With Manchester United and Norwich City, two teams meet who are under a lot of pressure in the final spurt of the league. The reigning runners-up are currently running far behind their expectations and are struggling to achieve an international starting place. A place in the top 4 seems impossible after the results of the last weeks.

However, at least the battle for the Europa League competition is still completely open, as the competition is also weakening. London clubs Arsenal and West Ham lack consistency. But after five league games with only one win, the Red Devils urgently need to score against the bottom team. The bookmakers are optimistic, offering unattractive odds of 1.25 on a bet on the home side in the Manchester United v Norwich match.

But the pressure is at least as great on the visitors from the east of England. Bottom of the table, the Canaries have their backs to the wall. It will take a small miracle if the fall into the second division is to be prevented. Especially as the results of the last few weeks have given little cause for optimism. The game at Old Trafford kicks off at 16:00 on Saturday. Will the visitors grasp one of the last straws in the fight to stay in the league?

Manchester United – Statistics & current form

After last year’s runners-up finish, hopes were high among United fans to be at the top of the table again this year. With Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, the squad has been upgraded to keep pace with the big rivals. But the reality is unfortunately different.

The Red Devils have collected 51 points from the 31 games they have played so far, with 14 wins and nine draws. In the standings, this currently means seventh place, which would mean missing out on the international competitions in the final reckoning. At least reaching the Champions League seems hopeless due to the consistency of the top teams Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham. The battle for the remaining two international slots is shaping up to be a four-way fight.

Manchester have won just one of their last five league games

Things have not been going well for Rangnick’s troops for weeks. They have won just one of their last seven competitive games. Four of the last five league games were not won and important points were given away. The fact that Manchester are still in fifth place is due to the lack of consistency of their rivals West Ham and Arsenal.

The hosts have also had to say goodbye to the top flight. In the group stage, the twenty-time English champions left Villarreal CF, Atalanta Bergamo and Young Boys from Bern behind them and qualified directly for the last 16. The home side drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid to set up a place in the next round, but lost 1-0 at home.

The Red Devils’ defence is allowing too much

The Red Devils scored the sixth most goals in the Premier League with 49. We see deficits in the defence, which has already conceded 42 goals. Among the top eight teams, no team conceded more goals. The bookmakers also expect a few goals in the clash with the Canaries. In the match between Manchester United and Norwich, odds of 1.55 are offered on a match with at least three goals.

At Old Trafford, Rangnick’s team has been quite stable lately and did not lose any of the last six league games in front of their home crowd.

Predicted line-up of Manchester United:
De Gea – Wan-Bissaka, Lindelöf, Maguire, Dalot – Fred – Sancho, Pogba, Rashford – Ronaldo, Fernandes

Last matches played by Manchester United:

Premier League
09/04/2022 – Everton 1 – 0 Manchester United

02/04/2022 – Manchester United 1 – 1 Leicester

Champions League Final
16/03/2022 – Manchester United 0 – 1 Atletico Madrid

Premier League
13/03/2022 – Manchester United 3 – 2 Tottenham

06/03/2022 – Manchester City 4 – 1 Manchester United

Norwich – Statistics & current form

Norwich City Football Club morphed into a Premier League lift team in recent years. Four promotions and relegations had to be endured by the fans, respectively the supporters were allowed to celebrate. And this series seems to be continuing. After promotion last season, it now looks as if the club will not be able to stay in the league.

After 31 games, the Green-Yellows have only 21 points on the books, with five wins and six draws. They are seven points behind the bottom of the league with seven games to go. A long way to go for head coach Dean Smith’s men – perhaps too far.

Norwich are too harmless on the offensive

With 20 goals, the Canaries have by far the worst offence in the league. The best scorer is the Finn Teemu Pukki, who may be familiar to some from his time at Schalke 04. He has scored nine times so far, almost half of the Canaries’ goals. The defence is not much better either, conceding 63 goals, the second most in the Premier League.

But in the last two games, the green and yellow showed that they have not given up yet. After seven consecutive league defeats, Norwich took four points from two games. After the 0-0 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion, they managed their fifth win of the season last Sunday. Burnley FC were brought to their knees with 2-0 goals.

Do the Canaries add another treble?

Interestingly, so far this season, whenever the Canaries have won, they have managed to follow it up with a win.

In their last five competitive matches on their opponents’ pitch, the Canaries have only managed to pick up a point once. At United, the green-yellows picked up a three-pointer in just one of their last twelve games. In addition to Pukki, Rupp, Rashica and Sargent are other players in the squad who have also earned their money in the Bundesliga.

Predicted line-up of Norwich:
Krul – Giannoulis, Gibson, Hanley, Byram – Normann – Gilmour, Lees Melou – McLean – Pukki, Rashica

Last matches played by Norwich:

Premier League
10/04/2022 – Norwich 2 – 0 Burnley

02/04/2022 – Brighton 0 – 0 Norwich

13/03/2022 – Leeds 2 – 1 Norwich

11/03/2022 – Norwich 1 – 3 Chelsea FC

05/03/2022 – Norwich 1 – 3 Brentford

Manchester United – Norwich Direct comparison / H2H balance

The two teams have faced each other 53 times. The overall balance speaks a clear language in favour of the hosts. The Red Devils have 33 victories to their credit from the encounters, while the Canaries have only been victorious ten times. In the last ten games, Man United have won eight times and only once have the Green and Yellows been successful.

Ralf Rangnick’s side won the first leg at Carrow Road 1-0 with a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty, and the bookmakers are predicting a three-goal win for the home side in the second leg between Manchester United and Norwich.

Manchester United – Norwich Tip

There is a lot at stake for both teams in this clash. The hosts urgently need to score if their participation in international competition next year is not to be further jeopardised. The bookmakers expect the Red Devils to win and offer odds of 1.25 for a bet on the home side in the Manchester United v Norwich match.

But the visitors have nothing left to give away. The Green-Yellows will have to make a tremendous final spurt to avoid relegation. The four points from the last two duels will give them self-confidence. It will be very important which team scores the first goal, because both teams have hardly ever managed to turn a deficit into a three-goal win this season. Manchester have achieved this feat twice and Norwich only once.

Even though things haven’t always gone well in recent games, we believe in the home side. The Red Devils want to achieve a place in the top 6 and must of course not give away any points in front of their own fans against the last team in the table.

Win is the only thing that will help both teams, so we hope for an attacking game. Alternatively, we are betting on a clash with at least three goals in the match between Manchester United and Norwich, at odds of 1.55.