Norwich City VS Southampton Match Prediction
2020-06-19
17:00:00
Norwich City
VS
Southampton
Our Prediction Tip
Southampton will win this match.
2020-06-1917:00:00 Southampton will win this match.
Southampton beat Norwich before Christmas 2-1 when they met in December – their first league meeting since January 2016. Danny Ings and Ryan Bertrand scored Southampton’s goals and Teemu Pukki’s second-half reply could not inspire a comeback.
Norwich City were heading for relegation before the season paused and the Canaries have a huge task in front of them if they are to pull off an unlikely mistake.
Little flashes of form – the win at Leicester, for example – have not been consistent enough to keep the Canaries away from the bottom of the table.
Southampton, on the other hand, were also in the mire but ticked into gear and got themselves well clear of trouble.
Their recent form has not been so good, but the Saints can restart as they mean to go on – a win will set them up well for a bid at climbing higher into mid-table.
Danny Ings’ goalscoring form up front was key before the enforced break and if he returns fit and firing he will be key again.
Norwich have profited from the break as they have welcomed some players back from injury, but they still look short of the consistency and quality to stay up.
With home advantage negated by the behind-closed-doors nature of these games too, Southampton can claim three points.
Southampton are a best price of 5/4 with Bet365, Betfair, Betway and 10Bet to beat bottom-of-the-league Norwich City.
Neither side have impressed defensively this season though and both teams to score has been set at 4/6 with 10Bet.
Over 2.5 goals will return a best price of 17/20 with Betfair, meanwhile.
Danny Ings is evens with Bet365, Betfair and Paddy Power to score at any time, while Norwich’s top man, Teemu Pukki, is 5/4 with 888sport.
Both teams’ form dipped before the season halted, but the Saints are better placed and a win keeps them clear of the bottom teams.
Norwich City have profited from the break as they can welcome Timm Klose back and also possibly Onel Hernandez. Christoph Zimmermann and Sam Byram may be further from fitness, however. Grant Hanley suffered a hamstring injury in the warm-up match against Tottenham, however. Marco Stiepermann missed training after a positive COVID-19 test and so could be too short of match fitness.
Teemu Pukki – The Finnish striker is Norwich’s top goalscorer so far this season, having netted 11 times in 28 league games.
Todd Cantwell – A fine start to the season faded a little but the English winger came back to form just before the season was paused.
Ben Godfrey – With his fellow defenders all fighting for fitness, the 22-year-old may need to be the senior partner at the back.
Norwich beat Tottenham in the FA Cup to reach the quarter-finals but could not back up a surprise win at home to Leicester – courtesy of Jamal Lewis’ goal – when they took on Sheffield United in their most recent game. The Blades won that match 1-0 as Norwich stayed adrift at the bottom of the league.
Shane Long may miss out with a muscle injury while Moussa Djenepo was sent off in Southampton’s most recent game and so is suspended. Pierre-Emil Hojbjerg will not captain the team, having announced his desire to leave in the summer.
Danny Ings – Scored 15 goals in 29 games before the season paused to be far and away the Saints’ most important player so far this season.
James Ward-Prowse – Another ever-present, now back in his preferred central spot and looking to dictate the tempo of this game.
Stuart Armstrong – Scored in Southampton’s most recent win and the game against Norwich could be a chance for him to prove himself once again.
Southampton have won just one of their last seven matches in all competitions. Since Shane Long and Stuart Armstrong scored in a 2-0 home win against Aston Villa, the Saints have lost 3-1 at West Ham and 1-0 at home to Newcastle.
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