After swatting aside Brentford in the midweek round of fixtures, the Death Star of football, Manchester City, head to Carrow Road to face Norwich. Pep Guardiola’s men will hope to strengthen their grip on the Premier League crown with three points in Norfolk.
The Canaries hold no fears for the Citizens. They have scored 10 goals in their last two league fixtures against Norwich. Prior to that, however, Norwich produced one of the biggest boil-overs in recent Premier League history when they defeated the defending champs 3-2.
Norwich City has had a serious uptick in form during the month of January. After pretty much being the laughingstock of the Premier League, for most of this season, the Canaries are now undefeated in their last four fixtures.
Despite their excellent form, I think they are in for a long day at the office here.
Norwich vs Manchester City FYIs
When is it? Saturday, February 12, 5.30 PM
Where is it? Carrow Road, Norwich
Who’s in form? Norwich (LWWWD) Manchester City (WWDWW)
What are the odds? Norwich (+1700) Manchester City (-550) Draw (+650)
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TEAM NEWS
As if things can’t get any rosier for the ‘noisy neighbors’ of Manchester, their injury list is looking rather empty. They were missing youngster Cole Palmer and Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus for the Brentford clash. The Brazilian is likely to be fit for duty for this one.
That leaves just the youngster Palmer along with the disgraced Benjamin Mendy as the only squad members unavailable for selection in this fixture.
So not only do they have the deepest squad, containing the most quality. They also sit bottom of the EPL injury table right now. Sometimes football just isn’t fair.
STARTING XI PREDICTION
The goalkeeper situation for the reigning champs is pretty straight forwards. Ederson starts if he is fit and available. He is fit and available, so expect him to line up between the sticks at Carrow Road.
Given the quick turnaround from the Brentford fixture, and a Champions League knockout match happening just three days later, I am expecting some rotation.
That rotation starts in defense. John Stones will partner Aymeric Laporte as Ruben Dias gets a rest. And Oleksandr Zinchenko comes in to play left-back, with Joao Cancelo switching to right-back for this one. This affords Guardiola the opportunity to rest Kyle Walker.
City makes all these changes with one eye on the Champions League fixture against Sporting Lisbon in Portugal just a couple of days later.
In midfield, Rodri continues as the deepest lying central midfielder. I think Gundogan and Bernardo Silva start ahead of him. Look for Kevin De Bruyne to make a cameo off of the bench.
The attack will probably see the return of Gabriel Jesus on the right-hand side, with Jack Grealish playing on the left. Phil Foden starts centrally.
PREDICTION
As a Liverpool fan, I would love to see another miracle like the one the Canaries produced back in 2019. I just don’t think it is likely this time. Norwich is much improved under Dean Smith, and they will make life difficult for City. Just not tough enough.
Big win for Manchester City, prediction 5-0.
Stuart Kavanagh is an up-and-coming sports journalist from Melbourne, Australia. Along with being the owner of the sports and entertainment website thepyrrhic.com, he is also the co-host of the ‘After Extra Time’ podcast. Football mad, he is always down for debate and discussion at @stueyissickofit on Twitter.