EPL Match Preview – Sunderland vs Norwich City

EPL Match Preview – Sunderland vs Norwich City [VIDEO]

0
SHARE

Round two of the English Premier League season sees Norwich City travel to Wearside to face Sunderland. Both teams suffered defeats on the opening weekend, and will be looking to bounce back into some sort of form with their first points of the new campaign.

Outside90’s Ryan Menezes takes a moment to discuss the history of this fixture, team news and head-to-head information and his predictions for the game this weekend.

Norwich suffered a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace at Carrow Road on their return to Premier League action. The Canaries had in fact performed strongly, and were undone by an excellent goal from Wilfried Zaha, along with a point-blank far post finish from Irish defender Damien Delaney. Nathan Redmond pulled a goal back with a vicious strike from well outside the box, before Cameron Jerome had a goal controversially ruled out for a high foot – a decision even Palace fans contest. Yohan Cabaye completed the scoring in added time to send Alan Pardew’s men home with all three points.

Meanwhile Sunderland suffered a far-from-ideal 4-2 defeat away to Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. The Foxes came flying out of the gate, and three goals in 14 first-half minutes set the home team up for a dominant win. Jamie Vardy opened the scoring, while a brace from Riyad Mahrez including a penalty put an end to any Black Cats hope of opening day success. Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher provided Sunderland with some consolation and kept the scoreline respectable with goals of their own.

Key Battle – Jermain Defoe vs Sebastian Bassong

The former Tottenham Hotspur teammates will encounter a very important battle in this match. Bassong will be recognised as Norwich’s key central-defensive post in a predicted three-man line, and will be tasked with containing Sunderland’s biggest attacking weapon in Defoe. The 32-year-old scored against Leicester City last weekend, but if Bassong can limit his influence on the contest it will go a long way to Norwich securing a positive result in the North-east.

Sunderland expected starting XI: 4-3-2-1

Pantilimon; Jones, Coates, Kaboul, van Aanholt; Cattermole, M’Vila, Rodwell, Lens, Larsson; Defoe

Sunderland head-honcho Dick Advocaat is expected to keep faith with a dysfunctional defensive quartet that was susceptible to pace against Leicester – and suggested it was more down to teething issues as the back four came together for the first time. Adam Johnson has been ruled out for a minimum of eight weeks with a shoulder problem sustained at Leicester, while new-signing Yann M’Vila is expected to make his debut and Defoe will continue to lead the line.

Norwich expected starting XI: 3-5-2

Ruddy (GK); Martin, Bassong, Whittaker; Redmond, Johnson, Tettey, Brady, Hoolahan; Grabban, Jerome

Norwich City manager Alex Neil is expected to go with the same side that performed admirably before coming unstuck against Crystal Palace last time out. There is not expected to be any changes to the side, however, Cameron Jerome may partner Lewis Grabban in a two-man attack in the knowledge of Sunderland’s recent defensive failings.

[interaction id=”55cd928f1f39a60859655d4f”]

Head-to-head

Sunderland and Norwich City are fairly alien opponents to each other. Given the time the Premier League has been active, both teams have played each other relatively little, meeting 46 times in history – 22 of these at Sunderland, and 23 at Norwich, with one match played on neutral ground at Hillsborough.

The Canaries have the superior win ratio, claiming 20 out of the 46 games played, over Sunderland who have won just 14.

There have been 12 draws in this fixture previously but many goals scored through the years, with Sunderland netting 54 and Norwich 58, each providing an average of one goal per game.

Highest scoring fixture: Sunderland 7-1 Norwich City, 1962/63, Old Second Division.

Last two Premier League meetings

The most recent Norwich City and Sunderland meetings in the Premier League took place during the 2013-14 season – the year the Canaries were relegated. They were battling furiously to avoid the drop, and with both sides expecting another battle for survival this season, these games could be described as relegation ‘six pointers’.

21st December 2013: Sunderland 0-0 Norwich City – A frustrating game for all involved, as a breakthrough could not be found following 90 minutes of probing. The draw meant that Sunderland would prop-up the table in 20th over Christmas, whilst Norwich would be nine points ahead in 14th. Bottom-of-the-table frustrations boiled over for Wes Brown, who saw a straight red card for a terrible foul on Ricky van Wolfswinkel.

22nd March 2014: Norwich City 2-0 Sunderland – The league was entering it’s ‘run-in’ phase, and this was once again a vital must win for both relegation candidates. This time the Canaries came out on top in front of their fans at Carrow Road with a convincing win, thanks to goals from Robert Snodgrass, and a thundering 30 yard volley from Alex Tettey. Sunderland suffered another red card in this fixture, with Marcos Alonso given his marching orders for two bookable offences.

What can we expect on Saturday?

Both teams will be eager to secure their first points of the Premier League campaign. Sunderland, who looked disappointing and lethargic at the King Power Stadium, will be able to insert French enforcer M’Vila into their side, who is available despite being sent-off in his Under-21 debut for the club after head-butting Norwich’s Jamar Loza. Black Cats manager Dick Advocaat will hope history does not repeat itself on Saturday afternoon.

Norwich are seemingly all-in to produce a ravaging Premier League season. Jonny Howson has publicly stated that the club are desperate to avoid the heartbreak of the 2013-14 season, with manager Alex Neil chiming in, stating they “relish” the underdog tag given to them. Though the Canaries were slightly uninspiring last weekend, there were many positives that could be taken for Neil to work on.

This game has provided some big scorelines in the past, and with the open style of play the managers are seemingly enforcing, there could be another at the Stadium of Light. Both will be keen to launch themselves into the points, so expect a fast paced and exciting affair.

Prediction – Sunderland 1 Norwich City 1

Additional reporting by Outside90’s Ferg Milligan

What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.

LEAVE A REPLY