Are the Canaries still treading water?

Promoted Norwich City have picked up just one point from a possible 21 in their first seven league games. That leaves the Canaries, who not only have the weakest offence (only two goals) but also the worst defence (16 goals conceded) in the entire Premier League, holding the red lantern.

Now, of all times, the Seagulls are in good form in the East of England. The visitors from the English Channel coast have won six and lost only one of their last nine games. Accordingly, in the run-up to the match between Norwich and Brighton, the odds are swinging in the direction of the southerners, who have also won their last two competitive matches against the Canaries.

At least, however, Norwich City recently ended their unprecedented losing streak. The Canaries, who had previously lost 16 straight Premier League games, secured their first point in a goalless draw with Burnley before the international break. However, given their extremely poor attacking record, the case for Norwich against Brighton is for bet 2.

Norwich – Statistics & current form

Norwich City have been in existence since 1902 and have won the League Cup twice. The traditional club from the medieval town in the east of England in County Norfolk was also a founding member of the Premier League and finished third in the first edition in 1992/93.

The last time the Yellows were in the country’s top flight for three seasons in a row was between 2011 and 2014. Their last two spells in the English top flight ended in relegation. In 2019/20, they picked up just five wins in 38 games.

Only one point from a possible 21 from their first seven games

After their recent resurgence as Championship champions, it doesn’t look like the Canaries have become any more competitive under their long-time coach Daniel Farke. Norwich are captivating with negatives in virtually all respects. The Yellows took the fewest points 1, scored by far the fewest goals 2 and conceded the most in the league 16.

A bright spot, however, was the recent 0-0 draw against Burnley FC, who are also still winless. The point win ended a surreal run of 16 consecutive Premier League games, all of which ended in defeat.

Only 17 shots taken in seven league games
If the Canaries don’t improve their attack, however, they are likely to remain virtually hopeless. For 25 league games in a row, they have never scored more than one goal per game and only seven goals in total. These figures do not come by chance, however. After all, Norwich City have fired just 17 shots in seven games so far – more than any other team.

Accordingly, it is not surprising that the promoted team is in the underdog role at home to Carrow Road.

Predicted Norwich line-up:
Krul – Giannoulis – Gibson – Hanley – Kabak – Aarons – McLean – Normann – Lees-Melou – Pukki – Sargent

Last matches played by Norwich:

Brighton – Statistics & current form

Brighton & Hove Albion just managed to stay in the league at the end of the 2020/21 season in 16th place. The team around coach Graham Potter should be all the more relieved that there are absolutely no relegation worries on the English south coast at the moment.

In fact, the Seagulls have had one of their best starts in history. With 14 out of a possible 21 points from their first seven games, Albion occupy sixth place and are just two points behind current league leaders Chelsea FC.

The third best defence in the Premier League

Accordingly, with an away win in the east of England, the Seagulls can even dream of cementing themselves at the top of the table and perhaps even entering international competition for the first time ever in the club’s history.

There may still be a long way to go before that happens. Nevertheless, the southpaw’s defence, which is so strong, is currently ensuring that practically nothing goes wrong. For 28 league games in a row, Brighton have not conceded more than two goals. In fact, after the first seven league games of the new season, Brighton have conceded just five goals, which is third best in the Premier League.

Offensively, everything runs through Neal Maupay

Accordingly, Norwich’s betting on the Seagulls’ away win against Brighton is under a good star, and they should naturally have the best prerequisites for a clean sheet against the offensively almost non-existent Yellows.

Only the attack still has to improve. The only eight goals scored were enough for four wins from seven games, but there is certainly room for improvement, especially as almost everything went through Neal Maupay, who has already scored four times. SChon 2020/21 he was the top scorer at Brighton, but “only” scored eight goals in total in 31 league games – three of them from penalties…

Predicted Brighton line-up:
Sánchez – Burn – Dunk – Duffy – Cucurella – Veltman – Moder – Lallana – Gross – Trossard – Maupay

Last Brighton Games:

Norwich – Brighton Direct comparison / H2H balance

Head to head: 34 – 24 – 32

There have been a total of 90 meetings between the two teams so far and the record reads largely even. However, the last time both Premier League clashes went to Brighton was in the 2019/20 season, when they won the first and second legs by nil.

Norwich – Brighton Tip

For Norwich against Brighton, the prediction has to take into account the strong form of the visitors from the English south coast, which is contrasted by the many negatives of the promoted team. Given that the Canaries have scored just two goals in seven league games, the very idea of the home side scoring at all against such a secure Seagulls defence seems highly unrealistic.

Accordingly, we are betting on an away win for the in-form southerners, who are currently just two points behind leaders Chelsea on two points and come to the Yellows with a correspondingly broad chest.