Norwich v Chelsea Tip

A tough game to call with all results seeming possible, especially if Norwich up their game as they have so often recently. A home win at 5/1 (Skybet) is tempting, especially when you consider that the Canaries have won their last three in all competitions, but they just can’t keep a clean sheet. For all their excellence this season, they have failed to shut out their opponents in any of their 21 league outings to date. I can’t see Chelsea being the first to fire a blank against them.

However, Norwich are great going forward and they will arguably boast the form striker on the park in Steve Morison. The former Millwall star has immediately adapted to life in the Premier League and bagged eight league goals, plus one in the FA Cup already. He is currently on a particularly rich vein of form having scored the last goal of the match in each of his last three appearances. At a best price of 9/1 (Ladbrokes) he seems excellent value to repeat the trick once again.

For whatever reason, the 28-year-old has scored eight of his nine strikes in the second half of matches this campaign. It’s for this reason I suggest ‘last goalscorer’ as opposed to ‘first goalscorer’, at the same odds. The benefit of this selection is that the bet stays alive as long as he is on the pitch.

Even if Chelsea have a great day and overrun their hosts, Morison is still well capable of popping up with a late consolation goal, as he did away to Manchester City. Strikers are always concerned about their own statistics, even when the team is having a bad day. That may just play into our hands. On the other hand, he may score early and Norwich may hold out for a famous 1-0 victory. Either way we win!