Norwich v Burnley: Entertainment expected between high-flying pair

Mark O'Haire
03 February 2023
3:00 min read

Norwich have had 67 shots in three games under David Wagner

Norwich City vs Burnley
Sat 4 Feb, 12:30

Join

View market

Twitter

Facebook

Championship league leaders Burnley travel to Carrow Road to face rejuvenated Norwich on Saturday. Betfair writer Mark O'Haire is expecting an entertaining encounter in Norfolk.

Norwich have been shot-heavy under David Wagner
Burnley free-scoring, firing a solitary league blank
Back both sides to oblige at Carrow Road

Fast-starting Norwich catch the eye

Norwich boss David Wagner says his free-scoring side must moderate their "Wild West" football to continue their recent upturn in the Championship.

The Canaries made it two wins out of two since the German took charge after following up a fast-starting 4-0 rout at Preston before repeating the feat in an eye-catching 4-2 triumph at Coventry last time out.

Wagner said his team may have become "too excited" after surging into a three-goal lead after 18 minutes at Coventry, just seven days after they had done exactly the same inside 28 minutes at Preston.

But the City chief was pleased with his first few weeks in charge as Norwich moved back into the top-six to revive their ailing play-off hopes.

Wagner said, "You have to use your brain in football. You have to show you are able to calm the game when you are 3-0 up, to control the ball and this is what we haven't done. We looked nervous even at 3-0 up and there was no reason for it. But I liked how the players reacted. It was 'Wild West' football in the first half but we fixed it in the second half."

Burnley held at Ipswich

Burnley played out their first goalless game under Vincent Kompany's watch as a much-changed side were held to a 0-0 draw in the FA Cup fourth round against Ipswich last weekend.

Neither team were able to find the all-important breakthrough with Town becoming only the third team this season to keep the Clarets out this season.

Kompany was missing Manuel Benson and Johann Berg Gudmundsson for the trip to Portman Road but was able to hand debuts to Scott Twine, Ameen Al-Dakhil and Lyle Foster.

This also allowed Vitinho, Samuel Bastien and Darko Churlinov to get some crucial minutes under their belt, before confirming the signing of Swansea striker Michael Obafemi.

The 0-0 stalemate did bring a 12^th clean sheet of the campaign, as well as a ninth outing without defeat across all competitions for Burnley. And Kompany was happy with the opportunity to go head-to-head against Ipswich again next week.

Kompany said, "I am probably one of the few managers who is not disappointed that we have a replay. We have a squad of players who are dying to prove themselves, so it is not a bad thing for us. For our squad it's a good thing, I can't describe it any other way."

Clarets interesting outsiders

Norwich were beaten 1-0 in the reverse encounter back in October, extending the Canaries' lean streak against the Clarets in league action.

The Yellows have now tabled a solitary success in their last nine match-ups with Burnley, losing on five occasions (W1-D3-L5). Meanwhile, at Carrow Road, the duo have played out an even W2-D2-L2 since 2006.

Ante-post favourites Norwich 2.6213/8 posted only three wins across a 15-game streak through October into early January (W3-D4-L8), a run that saw the Canaries slide out of top-six and Dean Smith sacked.

Despite an FA Cup exit against Blackburn, the Norfolk giants have found their feet under David Wagner with impressive back-to-back victories.

Burnley 2.9015/8 are five points clear at the top of the table having lost just twice under Vincent Kompany's watch (W18-D8-L2), picking up maximum points in 12 of their past 13 league fixtures.

The Clarets only defeats have arrived on the road against fellow promotion hopefuls Sheffield United (2-5) in November and Watford (0-1) way back in August.

Norwich City

Burnley

Stoke City 0 0 Norwich City
Huddersfield Town 1 1 Norwich City
Norwich City 0 1 Sunderland
Millwall 2 3 Norwich City
Norwich City 2 0 Cardiff City
Norwich City 3 1 Birmingham City

Manchester City 6 0 Burnley
Hull City 1 3 Burnley
Burnley 3 0 Wigan Athletic
Blackpool 0 0 Burnley
Burnley 1 0 Fleetwood Town
Burnley 4 0 Huddersfield Town

Norwich City vs Burnley Saturday 04 February, 12:30

Full stats

Goals expected between high-fying pair

The market is anticipating goals at Carrow Road and Norwich's recent approach should lend itself to an entertaining encounter.

Across the Canaries opening three fixtures with David Wagner at the helm, City have fired in a huge 67 shots at goal - in all three encounters, the hosts have plundered at least 18 attempts at goal, scoring eight goals in the process.

Burnley have also displayed a penchant for forward-thinking football during Vincent Kompany's reign.

The Clarets are the division's highest scorers and have notched in each of their past 25 Championship dates, failing to net only once at this level in 2022/23. With that in mind, backing Both Teams To Score holds plenty of appeal on Saturday at 1.804/5 quotes.

Back Both Teams To Score @ 1.80

1.80

More adventurous punters may wish to utilise the Bet Builder with Over 2.5 Goals, Both Teams To Score and Burnley Double Chance paying out at 3.8014/5.