Although it is FA Cup semi-final weekend, the Premier League continues as well on Saturday evening with just the one match taking place across the course of the afternoon, one which is pretty big for the away side as Norwich City host Burnley.
We already know that Norwich City will be playing Championship football next season but what we don’t yet know is whether Burnley will be playing European football. A win here would keep their hopes of doing so well and truly alive.
Where to watch
The match is live in the UK on the Sky Main Event, Sky Premier League, Sky One and Pick channels. The build up to the game begins at 5pm and the match itself starts at 5.30pm.
Norwich City
The Canaries were always going to be up against it this season having taken the sensible approach of not splashing the cash and risking their future in a bid to stay in the Premier League. They showed early signs that they could and would be competitive with what they had, but the longer the season has gone on the more their confidence has drained and it has now turned into a really tough slog. Although their fate was only sealed last weekend, the writing had been on the wall for a while.
The big issue that Norwich have found is scoring goals. Teemu Pukki started the season on fire but his goals have dried up completely and nobody else has replaced those strikes. That equates to the appalling record that they have only scored five goals in the 16 Premier League matches they have played in 2020. To be fair to them they haven’t always been opened up defensively, although the last few weeks their defence has begun to crumble under the strain.
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Burnley
If you go back to early January there were people who were thinking that the Premier League run of Burnley was coming to an end. They had lost seven of their last nine matches and were struggling for goals and looking nervously over their shoulder at the relegation zone but then they flicked the switch and since January 11 their only defeat was at Manchester City in the first match after the restart when they were having contract disputes and could barely field a side.
Since that match they have been almost flawless. They have three wins and three draws but the confidence they are playing with has been easy to see. The other thing which has stood out since the crowds have disappeared has been the style they have played with. There is a lot more possession based football from Burnley and yes while they still make sure they remain tight and clear their lines, they are getting players into key positions who can play a little bit.
Team News
There is a little bit of guesswork involved in the line up that Daniel Farke will go with here. He is likely to have an eye on next season but at the same time he won’t want his team to be thrashed. Teemu Pukki could come in.
Burnley have been suffering with injuries ever since the restart and they picked up another in the 1-1 draw with Wolves in midweek when Charlie Taylor went off early. He’s unlikely to play which could see Erik Pieters move to left-back and Johann Berg Gudmundsson coming into the midfield.
Betting
It is hard to see beyond Burnley here. They don’t concede many goals as a rule and Norwich don’t score many either. Burnley have plenty about them going forward but they might not need their full repertoire of attacking play to come out on top here. I mentioned in midweek that Norwich will either free up and play now they are down or they’ll feel sorry for themselves and remain out of their depth. We got the latter and that isn’t likely to change now.
Burnley are absolutely flying at the minute and although they only picked up a point late on in midweek, Wolves are a much better side than Norwich are. Since lockdown, Burnley have played two sides in the relegation battle and seen them both off and at the time Watford and West Ham were just starting to launch their survival bid. Norwich look cooked, there’s little there up front and they are becoming a mess defensively. The away win has to be backed here.
Tips
Back Burnley to beat Norwich for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with BetVictor
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