Canaries Look To Continue Setting Pace At Charlton

The Championship`s surprise packages Charlton Athletic take a mid-week trip to Norfolk tonight (30th September) as they take on top of table side Norwich City who are looking to make a quick return to the Premier League. Pre-season relegation favourites Charlton have picked up 15 points from their first nine games and occupied a play-off spot for most of the early weeks until hitting something of rough patch of form with consecutive draws against Wolves, Rotherham and Middlesbrough. Bob Peeter`s Athletic had relinquished an early lead in their games with both Wolves and Rotherham, with strikes from Johan Berg Gudmundsson and Andre Bikey-Amougou being cancelled out by second-half efforts from Luciano Becchio and Danny Batth respectively. The Addicks are one of two teams who are yet to taste defeat in the 2014/15 Championship campaign with a win for the eighth-placed side possibly being enough to see them recapture a position in the play-off zone once again.

High-flying Norwich are on a run of eight league games with a defeat after successfully bouncing back from a narrow 1-0 loss away at Wolves on the opening day of the season. Dave Edwards scored the decisive goal for the side hoping to record back-to-back promotions. September has seen Neil Adams` men go undefeated, their stand out performance coming from 2-0 down away at Cardiff to grab a 4-2 victory. The quartet of Martin Olsson, Wes Hoolahan, Michael Turner and Cameron Jerome all netting in the Canaries` fightback that ultimately cost opposition manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer his job. Yet another win could amount to Norwich pulling further away at the top of the second tier should Nottingham Forest fail in their efforts to turn over Wigan at the DW Stadium.

Thanks to their ever-increasing confidence and superior league standing, the home side are best priced 8/13 (Betvictor) to continue their streak of good form with 10/3 (bet365, Skybet) the price for the game ending in a tie. In spite of their sold start, Charlton are still looking for first away win of the season and are 11/2 with a number of bookmakers to record it against the Carrow Road outfit.

The Addicks will be given hope with Norwich boss Adams having to consider a number of injury doubts when selecting his starting eleven. Striker Kyle Lafferty may play despite being contaminated with a sickness bug. The 27-year-old Northern Irishman has played a part in all but one of the East Anglian side`s league matches this season, being a substitute or substituted in all, but is yet to find the back of the net. Should he start, the former Rangers man is 2/1 (betfred) to open his account tonight. Fellow forward Gary Hooper is still out with a calf injury picked up in the pre-season.

Norwich may also be without Josh Murphy, the winger having to undergo a late assessment on his problem heel. The 19-year-old winger, who got his name on the scoresheet in the team`s 3-1 comeback away at Blackpool, is currently feeling the effects of his `sore` foot though is without any serious damage. Belgium international Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe is sidelined again after slowly recovering from a previous injury to make his competitive debut for the Canaries from the bench away at Brentford.

Addicks` Peeters will have to try and cause an upset without the aforementioned Icelandic Berg Gudmundsson, though will be buoyed by the return of five-goal talisman Igor Vetokele. The Angolan international lost all feeling in his arm after clashing with goalkeeper Carl Ikeme in the match against Wolves though has suitably recovered to make his reappearance tonight.

Top scorer Vetokele`s return may see the Carrow Road match-up a high scoring affair with Norwich also boasting two of the league`s highest scorers, in Lewis Grabban and former Birmingham City man Jerome. Grabban can be backed at 7/5 (betfair, Coral) to hit the back of the net at any time whilst Jerome is 7/4 with betfred. The real value, however, is with Charlton`s poacher who is 31/10 (888sport, unibet) to add to his tally.

Sportingbet are offering odds of 21/10 on there being four or more goals conceded in the 90 minutes.

Go To bet365

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30/09/2014     © Frixo 2024