Norwich vs. Manchester United, EPL Round 16, 11 December 19:30
Norwich vs. Manchester United, EPL Round 16, 11 December 19:30

Since taking over at Carrow Road Dean Smith has helped the Canaries pick up some much-needed points. However, his run of four unbeaten games came to an abrupt end last week when his side lost 3-0 away to Tottenham and as a result Norwich still occupy the bottom spot on the EPL table with just 10 points. Norwich have been at the bottom of the table most of the season, but Smith has at least helped his side close the gap with Newcastle and Burnley and given them a chance at climbing out of the relegation zone. If you disregard their performance against Tottenham last week there has been a notable improvement in the Canaries’ attack. After only scoring three goals in their first ten matches of the season they have now managed to find the net five times in their last five matches. Furthermore, their only two wins of the season along with two of their four draws came after their new manager joined the club. Basically there has been a huge improvement since changing managers and it will be interesting to see if this trend will continue or if the last five matches were just a short-lived recovery. Since Dean Smith has joined the club Norwich have lost away to Spurs 3-0, drawn 1-1 away to Newcastle, drawn 0-0 at home to Wolves, won 2-1 at home to Southampton and won 2-1 away to Brentford.

Things are certainly looking up for Manchester United’s EPL campaign right now. Since losing 4-1 away to Watford just prior to Solskjaer’s exit the Red Devils have managed to pick up a valuable point at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea and beat Arsenal 3-2 at Old Trafford under the guidance of Michael Carrick. Ralf Rangnick finally took the reins against Crystal Palace last week and he did not disappoint in his first game in charge with a 1-0 win. It may not have been a convincing win but it was certainly a positive start and hopefully a sign of more good things to come for United. The German decided to rest the majority of his players and opt for a younger side on Wednesday night for their UCL clash with Swiss side Young Boys. The youngsters failed to pick up the win but with qualification and top spot in the group already secured it did not matter and hopefully the senior players will come out blazing against Norwich after a well-deserved rest. Currently Manchester United sit in sixth place on the table with 24 points and a win on Saturday could see them return to the Top 5 for the first time since October. 

The last time these two teams met was in a FA Cup quarter-final clash in June last year at Carrow Road. Although Norwich managed to take it to extra-time, the visitors would eventually snatch a 2-1 victory. The sides have clashed twice since Norwich rejoined the EPL in 2019, once at Old Trafford and once at Carrow Road with United winning comfortably on both occasions. The last time Norwich managed to pick up a home win against Manchester United was all the way back in 2012.

Prediction

Norwich may have sparked a slight recovery since changing managers, but for me Dean Smith failed his first real test last week against Tottenham. They may have homeground advantage this week, but I don’t think it will help much and I don’t believe they will be able to pull off a win against United. The Red Devils themselves are finding their feet under new guidance, but they are the far better team going into this clash and they should walk away as comfortable winners in this one. Their victory against Crystal Palace may have been less than convincing but I am expecting a much bigger performance this week. Rangnick will be more settled in now and the senior team will be well-rested and itching to put in a big effort. I am quite surprised that you can get 1.50 on a Manchester United win, but I would rather go for Manchester United to win and over 2.5 goals which is available at just over even money. Only one of the last five EPL clashes between the two teams has seen less than three goals which suggests that we should see plenty of goals on Saturday. Marcus Rashford has scored three times in his last two appearances against the Canaries and it’s certainly worth backing him to score in the match, while I also fancy United to lead at half-time and to win the match.

BetOlimp Best Bets


Total Goals/Result: Manchester United and over 2.5 goals – 2.01
Anytime Goalscorer: Marcus Rashford – 2.55
Half-Time/Full-Time: Manchester United/Manchester United – 2.07

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