Relegation Battle Widens

Goal Shy Norwich On The Slide
If you don’t shoot you don’t score – that should be the message Chris Hughton is hammering home to his players.  In their last five games Norwich have mustered a meagre eight shots on target, scoring three goals.

The Canaries find themselves on a dismal run of just one win in 14 league games and if it wasn’t for their defence they would be mired in a relegation battle. As it stands, they are 14/1 (BetVictor) for the drop but recent performances suggest they are by no means safe.

The signing of Ricky van Wolfswinkel is acknowledgement of the problem but the Dutch forward won’t arrive until next season. If Norwich don’t start taking a few more risks he could be joining them in the Championship.

Alternative Form Table

Using the criteria set out in our ‘Shots On Target’ feature, each week we analyse the recent set of Premier League fixtures to see if the scorelines were a fair reflection of the games.

Di Canio Bounce Factor?
Managers are usually sacked because their results aren’t up to scratch, as was the case with Martin O’Neill, but are their replacements any better? The fabled ‘bounce factor’ is often banded about but there is little proof it exists. 

Sunderland could beat Chelsea this weekend at 9/1 (Bet365) and it would have nothing to do with Paulo Di Canio, although he would almost certainly get the credit.

Our alternative form table says Sunderland are playing better than their recent points tally suggests. It is by no means a good run of form, but they deserve more than six points from their last eight games. Their luck could change at Stamford Bridge with Paulo Di Canio just a placebo.