Prior to Saturday’s match at Carrow Road, two teams enter probably their most important phase of the 2015-16 season.
After a decent start, Norwich City fell into dismal form and are on a losing streak of four matches. Swansea City’s win over Aston Villa did not bring much to their game and with the tough schedule following November’s international break, the Jacks are in urge of winning twice in-a-row away from Wales.
The Canaries are now eight weeks from their last win over Bournemouth. Since then, Alex Neil’s side have recorded only two points, though the draws against Liverpool and West Ham came right after the victory against the Cherries. At the time of the latter tie, at the Boleyn Ground, Norwich were still above Chelsea on the Premier League table, but they did not manage to record a single point since. A win over Swansea could see them running further away from Bournemouth and Newcastle, but for that, the changes are needed.
Swansea City did manage to finally win their first away game since early May at Villa Park, yet their loss to Arsenal showed all the problems Gary Monk has. Though the 3-0 scoreline was a bit harsh, the main responsibility lays on Swansea’s players. A handful of chances in the first half were not exploited and the strong and experienced Arsenal side knew how to punish that. To make things worse, the new problems are around the corner. The Welsh club needs to get home with another victory, as they will play Liverpool, Leicester and Manchester City after the international break.
Norwich’s shambolic defense
One thing is for sure this season – no matter against whom they play, Norwich City will concede a goal. In 11 matches played so far, not once did they manage to keep their net intact, which is a safe way towards relegation. In the last four matches they lost, Norwich’s survival rivals combined a total of 44 chances created, scoring a staggering 11 goals. Yes, six of those came in Newcastle’s rampant 6-2 win, but the Magpies did not have a single win until then.
Sebastien Bassong and Russell Martin are Alex Neil’s first choice at the centre-back positions. Their poor positioning and lack of understanding could be a big reason for Norwich’s results. Most of the goals mentioned above came from the central area of the Canaries’ box, while oppositions’ shots on target are even more numerous. The two players often stand too wide from each other, giving too much space to the rivals’ strikers. Jamie Vardy, Aleksandar Mitrović and Salomon Rondon all exploited the free space. Will Bafetimbi Gomis find the net, too?
Swansea’s lack of finishing
Swansea have problems materializing the chances they create. Only three players have scored for the side this season, excluding Hary Kane’s own goal in a 2-2 draw at Liberty Stadium. From those three, Gomis has not scored since August and Gylfi Sigurdsson scored both of his from set pieces. Only Andre Ayew is consistent, scoring five goals as a slightly less attacking-winger than Jefferson Montero is, for instance.
On average, the Swans make 4.5 shots on target per match, which makes them seventh best club in the league in that area. Yet, they score just a bit over one goal per match – 12 in 11 showings- which is 16th best in the competition. The problem is obvious, but how can they solve it?
Gomis constantly being drifting behind the defence too easy is not helpful, as he is by far the most off-sided player in the league – with 2.4 off-sides per match (the next is Diego Costa with only 1.1) – and his poor finishing probably cost Swansea a better result against Arsenal. Montero caused a lot of positive talks about him early into the season, but his impact on results is not that great. He has made only nine shots in the entire season so far – including both on-and-off target – and he could use a bit of unpredictability in his game.
Consistency solves problems
Norwich City need more sturdiness at the back. Their defensive work has not been good so far, as only Bournemouth and Sunderland conceded more times. Attacking potential at Carrow Road is good and the team is able to score multiple goals, yet they are leaking defensively. What Alex Neil has to add to his side is compactness and better positioning of the players. If they find the way to play with defensive responsibility as Watford do, then the attackers’ performances will not be underestimated, such as Nathan Redmond’s four goals.
Swansea mostly need to improve in the attacking third, where they have hard time scoring. But, they could also do better on the flanks defensively. Both Kyle Naughton and Neil Taylor concede too many crosses, as Swansea’s last four opponents averaged 20 crosses from the attacking third. It puts way too much pressure on Federico Fernandez and Ashley Williams, as the captain is the third in number of clearances this season. Gary Monk has to make full backs stricter to their opponents and find the way to help Montero and Gomis ‘click’ again.
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