Next up, it’s Wolverhampton Wanderers. The team who beat us on the opening day of the season, following Olsson’s red card, are back. In fact, they’re not just back, they’re back and biting at our heels. It’s a crucial match between 7th and 8th that will give the victor a massive boost for the rest of the season. Norwich who are now unbeaten in 3, winning the last two, will be targeting nothing but a home win. Doing so would not only rip a five point gap between them and Wolves, and perhaps put one foot inside the play-offs. If you thought Tuesday night was nervy, this encounter holds the potential to be even worse.
Our 2-3 win over Charlton was the perfect representation of Norwich this season; capable of brilliance, but just one long ball away from disaster. This new-look defence that is built on the recent return of Sebastien Bassong, failed to keep a third consecutive clean sheet when they let in Watt. Suddenly the momentum shifted. Just moments later, Charlton found a second – Vetokele firing home after Ruddy parried perfectly into his path. At this point, every Norwich fan was uttering the words ‘typical Norwich’ as well as other things far less savoury. However, unlike his predecessor, Alex Neil was proactive and brought on Hoolahan and Jerome who in turn combined superbly for the winning goal. The victory means Norwich remain 7th, but the gap has closed to just two points; Brentford now the team hanging on to that 6th position. It’s tightened up everywhere though – Ipswich are just 4th, and had they not come from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1, they would be just one point and one place ahead of the Canaries. The derby is looking increasingly likely to hold more significance than just who earns the ‘Pride Of Anglia’; it could have a resounding impact on one of the two clubs’ promotion hopes.
To coin a rather overused football phrase, the games are coming thick and fast. Tettey had to rule out the Blackpool match on the basis that his knee couldn’t cope with three matches a week, but while it can cause fatigue issues, it also offers winning teams, perhaps Norwich, to string together some results. A third consecutive win would do all sorts of good, especially considering Blackpool and Charlton were teams we were expected to beat.
WOLVES – Form: W D D L W
Wolves approach this game on an impressive run of form – they would sit 3rd if the table represented the last 8 games only. Since overcoming a catastrophic November, with losses of 4-0, 3-0, and 5-0 to Brentford, Forest and Derby respectively, they’ve yielded 21 points in 11 games. It has very much been a happy new year for the Midlands club, and that’s courtesy of some crucial goals from Dicko and his partner Afobe. Without this upwards surge, their promotion hopes would almost certainly be over.
Scoring has generally been their problem; a mere 38 goals is great strides away from the Top Six’s average of 53, and similarly is nothing in comparison to our 57. Nine of their thirteen league victories have been by one goal margins, and it’s a similar story at the other end – 5 of 8 defeats also. What this equates to is a goal difference of 0 – incredible considering ours is 21 and yet we sit just 2 points above them. What it shows is that it’s the points that count, not smashing Millwall 6-1…especially if you go and lose 2-1 to Reading the following week.
As the table starts to resemble how it might look in May, Wolves appear to be the last club who can find their way into the play-offs, with Blackburn trailing 6 points behind. You’ve got to also think that if Norwich were to beat them, it will be a huge step-back for them as too often this season they have failed to beat competitors. But it’ll be no easy task. Whittaker and Olsson will have their hands full with Sako while Bassong and Turner will have to manage Dicko between them.
Predicted team:
Howson has been extremely influential since his return from suspension, having set up goals for Hooper and most recently Grabban. The said striker also appears to be playing with some newfound confidence – a swagger even – and his delicate lob showed that, albeit against a poorly positioned ‘keeper. I expect to see Johnson and Tettey also hold their places in the middle of the field, as it will likely be a key area of the pitch. However, the importance of Redmond must not be overlooked; 19 year old left-back Kourtney Hause has a particularly low cross block rate so may be a weak point for Wolves.
Although it’s denoted as a 4-1-2-1-2 above, the roles are fairly interchangeable, and often when defending will revert back to a flat 4-4-2.
Verdict: It’s going to be tough. Really tough. I’m predicting a 1-1 draw, especially considering Wolves have performed better on the road this season than they have at home. However, if we can take the good parts from Tuesday, and leave the bad parts in London, we will win it. Three points would be absolutely huge. Could this be the week we break into the play-offs?
