A 1-3 victory over a struggling Blackpool side on Saturday preserved City’s eight match unbeaten run in the league and propelled them above Nottingham Forest – who could only manage a draw with Reading on Sunday. It also made the Canaries the highest scorers in the league with twenty goals in nine games – a feat not seen in recent years. Optimism is rife: the crowd are finally able to enjoy watching their side; the manager has made the players click; the Canaries are scoring goals.
Despite the perceived defensive frailties, Norwich have only conceded eight goals – although their opposition (had they had more quality upfront) have had chances to make that total higher. It still looks shaky and will need to be solidified if the prospect of promotion becomes a reality, but the team head into every game knowing they can out-score their challengers. Neil Adams seems to have found a formula that works.
On the other hand, one worry is the repeated poor performances in the first half of matches. It happened again against Blackpool; a quality side such as Nottingham Forest could well be three- or four-nil up by half-time, which would see no return for the Canaries no matter how exceptional the second half showing.
Charlton travel to Carrow Road on Tuesday night as one of two unbeaten teams in England’s second tier, currently sitting eighth in the table and with fifteen points in the bag. However, the Addicks have drawn the most amount of games in the league and that is hindering their march towards the play-off places. Having finished eighteenth last season, Charlton have unquestionably began to solidify their position in the Championship and seem to finally be able to mount a challenge to the top six. One limitation could be their small squad depth, which could prove costly during the final stages of the season. Top scorer Igor Vetokele has five goals so far and will be crucial to any success the London-based club will have. Young creative midfielder Jordan Cousins is capped at every England youth level and has a very bright future ahead of him and his three assists so far make him one to watch on Tuesday night.
As for the team selection for Norwich, Adams may decide to drop Wes Hoolahan after two poor games, instead favouring the skilful Josh Murphy on the left wing with Nathan Redmond on the right. Murphy changed the game against Blackpool when he came on, even delivering his first ever league goal for the Canaries. The solid midfield duo of Alex Tettey and Bradley Johnson is likely to remain unchanged as the pair form a base in the middle of the park that is hard to break down. A defence of Russ Martin, Jos Hooiveld, Michael Turner and Martin Olsson will likely feature ahead of the ever-consistent John Ruddy, with that back five unbeaten in league football. Cameron Jerome and Lewis Grabban form a lethal partnership on the front line; Jerome had a quiet game against Blackpool but still put a shift in and won the ball back for Murphy’s goal. Grabban scored a fortuitous goal via a big deflection, but that strike takes his tally up to six for the season – one behind Gary Hooper’s tally for the entirety of last year.
Predicted Team :
Prediction: 2-2.
