The lack of social media posts over the last week or so from the club has been very telling, but even more so in lead up to the defeat at Spurs. Much will depend on availability going into this fixture after a number of players missed the trip across North London.
DATE
28th December 2021
KICK OFF
3pm
VENUE
Selhurst Park, Holmesdale Road, London SE25 6PU
LAST TIME
The Canaries last visited South London in September 2019 when a penalty from Luka Milivojevic and an injury time goal from Andros Townsend sealed all three points for the Eagles.
WHO SCORED MAN OF THE MATCH – Luka Milivojevic (8.0)
OFFICIALS
Referee: Paul Tierney. Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Neil Davies. Fourth official: John Brooks. VAR: Jonathan Moss. Assistant VAR: Marc Perry
TEAM NEWS
PALACE – James McArthur is still working his way back to fitness but may end up with a place on the bench. Wilfried Zaha sits out a one match ban following his red card against Spurs. Christian Benteke, Luka Milivojevic, Eberechi Eze, Michael Olise, Nathaniel Clyne and Vicente Guaita may all be unavailable if they do not post negative Covid tests.
NORWICH – Grant Hanley (shoulder), Christoph Zimmermann (ankle), Andrew Omabamidele (back), Tim Krul (Covid) and Mathias Normann (Covid) are all ruled out. Milot Rashica (groin) and Lukas Rupp (Covid) may both feature.
DISCIPLINARY
RED CARDS – Ben Gibson (1), Wilfried Zaha (1)
YELLOW CARDS (4+) – Joel Ward (5), Conor Gallagher (4), Mathias Normann (4), Marc Guehi (4), Brandon Williams (4), Pierre Lee-Melou (4), Max Aarons (4)
FORM GUIDE
Last FIVE meetings between the two sides;
- 01/01/20 Norwich 1-1 Palace
- 28/09/19 Palace 2-0 Norwich
- 09/04/16 Palace 1-0 Norwich
- 08/08/15 Norwich 1-3 Palace
- 01/01/14 Palace 1-1 Norwich
Last FIVE results for Palace:
- 26/12/21 Spurs 3-0 Palace
- 15/12/21 Palace 2-2 Saints
- 12/12/21 Palace 3-1 Everton
- 05/12/21 United 1-0 Palace
- 30/12/21 Leeds 1-0 Palace
Last FIVE results for Norwich;
- 26/12/21 Norwich 0-5 Arsenal
- 14/12/21 Norwich 0-2 Villa
- 11/12/21 Norwich 0-1 United
- 05/12/21 Spurs 3-0 Norwich
- 30/11/21 Newcastle 1-1 Norwich
RECORD AGAINST NORWICH
- Played 114
- Won 49
- Drawn 21
- Lost 44
FORM PLAYERS ACCORDING TO WHO SCORED
- Conor Gallagher 7.46
- James McArthur 6.94
- Mathias Normann 6.87
- Grant Hanley 6.75
ONE TO WATCH
TEEMU PUKKI
FORMER CLUBS – Kotkan Nappulat, KTP, Sevilla, Sevilla Atletico, HJK, Schalke 04, Celtic, Brondy
The real scoring threat for the visitors who has not been flush in front of goal of late but the Finnish international has an eye for goal is the service is provided so will remain a real threat for the Eagles.
KEY CLASH
WILL HUGHES v BILLY GILMOUR
Much will depend on the midfield battle with the former Watford man going up against the Chelsea loanee who impression the Euros with Scotland. Hughes has impressed since coming into the Palace midfield with both his combative style and his ability to find a pass.
PRE-MATCH FACTS
- Palace are unbeaten in their last 5 league games against Norwich (W3, D2)
- Norwich are winless in their past 16 away league games at Palace (D5, L11)
- Palace have lost 4 of their last 6 league matches (W1, D1)
- Since their return to the top flight in 2013-14, Palace have failed to score in 118 league games, 18 more than any other side in that time, but they have scored in each of their last 8 league games at Selhurst Park, their longest-ever scoring streak in Premier League home games
- Palace have not won their final league game in any of the last nine calendar years
- Patrick Vieira’s side have only won 3 of their last 24 league matches without Wilfried Zaha (D3 L18)
- Norwich have lost their last 4 league games
- They have scored just 8 league goals this season, failing to score in 12 of their 18 league fixtures
- The Canaries have drawn their final league game in 4 of the last 5 calendar years, with their last such victory coming in 2015 against Aston Villa
- Norwich’s only victory in 27 league games in London came this season at Brentford
PRE-MATCH STATS
- GOALS – Gallagher (6 – 15th in PL)
- ASSISTS – Gallagher (3 – 18th in PL)
- PASSES – Guehi (1100 – 8th in PL)
- TACKLES – Mitchell (49 – 2nd in PL)
- TOUCHES – Ward (1311 – 9th in PL)
- SHOTS – Benteke (35 – 18th in PL)
- SAVES – Guaita (47 – 10th in PL)
DID YOU KNOW?
Norwich City are the only English club to have ever beaten Bayern Munich in Europe at the Olympic Stadium. They played in Europe just once in the 1993/94 season, having finished 3rd in the Premier League. They were denied entry to the UEFA Cup in 1986 due to the Heysel Stadium Disaster.
PREDICTION
This is tough one to predict not knowing exactly who is available but we are presuming that it will be much of who started against Spurs. With that in mind, and the frustrations that will be within the camp after that disappointing result, they have a chance to get back on track and finish the year in style.
FINAL SCORE: 2-0
BETTING ODDS
- Home – 4/7
- Draw – 14/5
- Away – 9/2
- Both teams to score – 10/11
RESOURCES
