Norwich City vs. Arsenal Preview

Barclays Premier League 19/11/11 (k.o 12.45pm)

Football
Published: 12/12/2011

A resurgent Arsenal will look to pick up from where they left off before the international break as they head to Carrow Road to face Paul Lambert’s Norwich City, who have made an encouraging start to life in the Premier League so far this season.

Many Gunners fans and pundits alike believe that it is one man and one man only who has transformed the club following their 8-2 humiliation against Manchester United – and it is not Arsene Wenger.

Although the veteran boss has responded well in the midst of a wealth of criticism to keep all intact, it is the club’s captain Robin Van Persie who has really stepped up to the mark.

The Dutch ace has demonstrated the role of a true leader over the past few weeks to inspire his team to a series of confidence boosting victories, including their last outing at Stamford Bridge where a scintillating hat-trick from the Dutchman spearheaded a memorable 3-5 win over rivals Chelsea to lift them to within sight of the top four and possible Champions League qualification.

Arsenal’s shocking start to the campaign undoubtedly leaves them playing a major catch up game, with their title hopes still looking all but shattered due the damage which has already been inflicted on the North London giants.

Nevertheless, with the pressure now seemingly off in the league in terms of shooting at top spot, Arsenal appear to be coming into their own and look a formidable outfit, particularly because of Van Persie who has consistently been nothing short of top class.

Norwich have started to struggle a little after a solid opening few games, with results beginning to elude them despite performing reasonably well.

The Canaries demonstrated their heart by battling back from 1-3 down at home to Blackburn Rovers to earn a draw at the end of October, before marginally falling short against an Aston Villa side who are notoriously strong at home.

Paul Lambert will have welcomed the international break in order to re gather his troops and perhaps nurse them back to their best with burnout a real possibility after making the difficult transition from the Npower Championship to the Barclays Premier League.

A visit from a buoyant Arsenal team is probably not what Lambert would have wished for however and Norwich will have it all to do, not only in this game but here on in should their confidence begin to ebb away on the back of a bad spell of results.

Arsenal look decent odds-on value at around 4/6 to secure another three points and continue their surge back up the table.

The aforementioned Van Persie once again looks the obvious choice to net the first goal of the game; however his odds are unlikely to be anything spectacular considering the form he is in.

Norwich can certainly play good football but with their frailties already beginning to look exposed, Arsenal can take real advantage and make yet another statement of intent to the other teams at the top of the table.

Wenger still has many cracks to seal over in his defence nonetheless so backing Norwich to get on the score-sheet looks a solid bet even if they are likely to be outplayed.

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Any odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of publishing (12/12/2011) but are subject to change.

12/12/2011     © Frixo 2024

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