Manchester City and Norwich both suffered defeats on the opening weekend of the 2021-22 Premier League season and they will be hoping to pick up their first points of the campaign when they meet at the Etihad on August 21st.
Manchester City
Manchester City eased their way to the title last season with Pep Guardiola securing his tenth honour since joining the club five years ago. As a result, the Citizens were priced up as the odds-on favorites to secure back-to-back top flight triumphs. Betting on the Premier League remains exceptionally popular and there are always several ante-post markets available ahead of the new campaign. Several new betting sites will offer enhancements and money-back bonuses to coincide with the start of the season, with online bookmakers seeing a surge of interest in Premier League betting at the beginning of August each year. Even at an odds-on price, punters were keen to back Manchester City this year, however, those who backed them will have been disappointed with their performance on the opening weekend.
Pep’s side struggled to break down Spurs on August 15th and recorded their fourth successive defeat in North London. Heung-Min Son proved to be the match-winner, with the South Korean finding the back of the net on 55 minutes.
City remain without a number of key players, with Kevin de Bruyne only deemed fit enough for a place on the bench. The Belgium could feature against Norwich, however Phil Foden may be given another couple of weeks off. They will be extremely disappointed to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium empty-handed, however, they should have enough quality to bounce back against the Premier League newcomers.
Norwich City
There was plenty of optimism surrounding Norwich City’s return to the Premier League, however, they were given a reality check by Liverpool on August 14th. Despite the presence of the home crowd, the Reds ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, although Daniel Farke’s men can hold their heads up high.
Despite starting the game of outsiders, the Canaries managed to fire in 14 shots and there were notable performances from new summer signing Pierre Lees Melou. Farke’s men created a number of opportunities, however, the visitors displayed far more quality and composure in the final third. Despite a late rally, the hosts weren’t able to get on the score-sheet and they are likely to face another tough task in the North West on Saturday.
There were encouraging signs down the right hand side with the aforementioned Pierre Lees Melou combining successfully with Todd Cantwell and Max Aarons. However, the newcomers were punished for their mistakes and they simply must avoid making similar costly errors against the Premier League champions.
Norwich won just one of their 19 away games during the 2019-20 campaign.
Head to Head
Norwich were thumped 5-0 here two seasons ago and they will need to be much tougher to break down this time around.
The Canaries have previously caused Pep Guardiola’s problems and they ran out 3-2 winners at Carrow Road in September 2019. Despite this, the
East Anglian club have failed to score in three of their last four meetings with Manchester City.
May 19th 2013 was the last time that Norwich defeated Manchester City on their own patch with Anthony Pilkington, Grant Holt and Jonny Howson getting on the scoresheet for the visitors.
Match Prediction
Manchester City may have slipped up in North London, however, they did create several chances against Spurs. Norwich cannot boast the same quality, nor will they be as stubborn and tough to break down.
The East Anglian side had plenty of bright moments in their opener, however, defender Grant Hanley admits that his team must improve at both ends of the field. Norwich are likely to pick up the majority of their points at home this season, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them draw another blank at this stadium.
The hosts are still finding their feet and a number of their players are still suffering from fatigue. However, they have a big enough squad to rotate and they have plenty of quality in reserve. City made a slow start last year, and they will be very little panic from supporters. The fans should enjoy a dominant display this weekend with their side dishing out a chastening defeat to their recently promoted opponents.
Prediction – Manchester City to Win to Nil
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