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Chelsea host newly promoted Norwich City this weekend as we get ready for another round of Premier League football action.
Andre Villas-Boas’ men will be looking to get their season up and running after two unconvincing performances at the start of their league campaign.
Chelsea were held to a 0-0 draw at Stoke City on the opening weekend before securing a hard fought 2-1 victory over West Brom last time out.
Few home fans were impressed with the display at Stamford Bridge and they will want an improved performance from their team on Saturday.
As for Norwich, they go into this game on the back of two draws in the their first two games back in the top-flight.
Paul Lambert’s men picked up a 1-1 draw at Wigan in the first game of the campaign before a late Kenwyne Jones goal denied them victory at Carrow Road last weekend.
They suffered an embarrassing 4-0 Carling Cup defeat at home to League One side MK Dons in midweek though, so after three games of the campaign they are still searching for their first win.
The Canaries did make eleven changes for this defeat though and will field an almost unrecognisable side again this weekend as they face the daunting prospect of travelling to Stamford Bridge.
Elliott Ward and James Vaughan are the only two men certain to miss out, while Leon Barnett returns from suspension and Steve Morison and Grant Holt will both return to lead the line.
As for Chelsea, first choice keeper Petr Cech misses out through injury meaning that Henrique Hilario will start the game. Other than this, Villas-Boas’ biggest decision is whether to start with Didier Drogba or Fernando Torres.
Nicolas Anelka scored against West Brom so is likely to keep his place, while Drogba replaced Torres after 59 minutes at Stamford Bridge. Norwich probably don’t have a preference as to who plays as whoever is selected will give their defence the biggest challenge they have faced for a while!
Match odds
As many of you may predict, Chelsea are overwhelming favourites to win this one. You can back them for victory at 11/50 while Norwich are 76/5 @ Betfair to pick up three points. The draw is 57/10.
This is one of those games where Norwich, as a team that will be fighting survival this year, can go into with nothing to lose. They will expect to lose this game while Chelsea will see it as a home banker.
Correct score
With this in mind it might be best to try and select the correct score. Chelsea may well win the game, but by what margin? If you expect them to hammer the Canaries 3-0 you can get odds of 37/5, while if you fancy a more tight game, 1-0 Chelsea win is available at 38/5 @ Betfair.
It perhaps says a lot that Chelsea are more likely to win 3-0 than 1-0, but if you want to back the underdog in this one, a shock Norwich 2-1 victory is available at 47@ Betfair.
First goalscorer
If Chelsea are to hit the ground running after a slow start to the campaign, there are a number of candidates to grab the first goal against Norwich.
A lot depends on who will get the nod to start up front, but Didier Drogba is the favourite to open the scoring, followed by fellow strikers Fernando Torres and Nicolas Anelka.
Norwich’s best chance of taking a shock lead is via Grant Holt. The experienced striker is yet to open his account this year and would love to do so against a team such as Chelsea.
Recommended bet
Chelsea to win 3-0 @ 37/5
Both teams to score @ 53/50
April 5th, 2012 at 10:13 am
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