Norwich City vs. Manchester City Preview

With the Barclays Premier League title race now all but over, Norwich City may be poised to deal out yet more punishment to second placed Manchester City who will still be deflated after surrendering domestic glory to arch rivals United.

Roberto Mancini’s side dominated the league for so long and appeared to have opened up an unassailable lead over the Red Devils going into 2012.

But Sir Alex Ferguson’s charges gradually wore down the blue half of Manchester and the Citizens have subsequently been crippled by the combination of a poor run of form and visible unrest within the camp.

The old maestro quite conceivably won the battle of mind games over his Italian counterpart who has been unable to keep issues at the Etihad under wraps and away from the media spectrum.

Now beaten off, City look doomed to finish the campaign on an even bigger low and a Norwich outfit, safe in mid-table after an impressive first season back in the top flight, have the freedom to give it all they have got against their star studied opponents who will surely be licking their wounds until the last ball is kicked on May 13th.

Of course, City may now respond with the pressure well and truly off, but this just seems highly unlikely considering the problems which have crept up under Mancini and the character clashes within the squad which have arguably been the cause of the club’s recent flop.

Norwich have hardly been in great touch themselves in recent weeks, a battling home success against struggling Wolves at the end of March being the only highlight of a relatively poor period for the Canaries.

But Paul Lambert’s men will be adamant to finish the season strongly with a top half finish up for grabs – and their record at Carrow Road is decent enough to give them a major shout against City who have been more than sketchy on the road comparative to how good their team is in the main.

Crucially, the powers that be at Norwich evidently have a healthy foundation to build on next season and members of the current squad will be keen to send out a reminder as to why they should remain in the fray heading into the 2012/2013 campaign before the inevitability of a summer transfer spend begins.

Hit man Grant Holt continues to blaze a trail – indeed, Wayne Rooney is the only other Englishman to have netted more in the league this season and an England call-up is not out of the question for the 30-year-old who has a genuine opportunity of reaching a twenty goal haul.

City are a poor price at 8/13 taking all circumstances into account and because of this it is hard to deter backers from taking a chance on the hosts who are a decent 5/1 for a game that they have a very realistic shot at winning.

The form book may suggest that Norwich are also running out of steam but the prospect of beating City should be ample reason to produce at least one more notable display and the Canaries midfield has been freshened up by the inclusion of recovered playmaker Jonny Howson who was signed from Leeds United earlier in the year.

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09/04/2012     © Frixo 2024