Norwich City vs Stoke City

August 20, 2011
By: John Hansen

Having brought home a valuable point from DW Stadium, Norwich return to their Carrow Road, hoping to record the first win of the season. Stoke City did well to hold Chelsea to a goalless draw at their Britannia, while they continued the good European run by beating Thun in Europa League play-offs.

Great result against Wigan

Norwich City were not even considered one of the candidates for Premiership promotion, but they managed to clinch an automatic promotion place and returned to the top flight after six years. Considering that the club did have money to spend this summer, I was really surprised to see them only buy players from the Championship and the ones with little or no Premiership experience. Most of the new signings have yet to stake a claim for their place in the side, meaning that boss Paul Lambert has started the Premiership campaign with a very similar side to that which won promotion in the first place, although that didn’t stop the Canaries from holding Wigan to 1:1 draw in their opening game. However, they are likely to face much tougher task against very experienced Stoke side that have already hit the ground running after starting the season early because of their Europa League campaign. Norwich players could also have problems with Stoke’s physical approach, so I am not really sure they can win their first home game this season.

Important defenders Whitbread and Barnett are injury doubts, while James Vaughan and Elliot Ward are definitely out.

Clean sheets all around

Tony Pulis has got to be congratulated for what he has done with Stoke City as he managed to transform the team from relegation strugglers to the side fighting for European places and domestic honours. The Potters easily escaped relegation battle last term before going on to lift the FA Cup trophy, with the 5:0 final win over Bolton something that Stoke fans will never forget. The Potters are often criticized for their physical approach and the set-piece oriented style of play, but Tony Pulis is unlikely to change his style as long as it continues to produce excellent results. Stoke have already played four competitive games this season, having recorded a double win over Hajduk Split and beaten Thun in addition to holding Chelsea to a goalless draw, and what is really impressive is that the Potters have yet to concede this season. They did score just three goals in four games, but that won’t be a problem as long as defence continue playing the way they are at the moment.

Begovic, Woodgate, Whelan and Pennant return to the starting line-up after they were all rested in Switzerland, but Rory Delap is a doubt.

Verdict

Norwich boss Paul Lambert is still trying to integrate the new players into the side and it is more than evident that the Canaries have big problems in their build-up play. Stoke, on the other hand, have already hit top form and with their defence thoroughly impressive at the moment, the Potters could need just one goal to win this game.

Our prediction: Stoke Draw No Bet

Odds: 2.00 (1/1)

Bookmaker: Bodog

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