Norwich vs Swansea match preview, team news, analysis & statistics

                         

Norwich City vs Swansea City

Barclays Premier League

Saturday 06/04/13

15:00pm K.O.

Carrow Road

Referee: Howard Webb

The Match

Norwich come into the game looking to arrest an alarming run which has seen them win just once this calendar year. Aside from an (albeit impressive) win over Everton at the end of February, you've got to go back to the 15th of December to find Norwich's last win in the league, where they beat Wigan 2-1 in front of their home fans. They have managed six 0-0 or 1-1 draws in their last 10 games though, so it seems there may be a problem finishing teams off. They'll be hoping to capitalise on Swansea's own poor run of form as they look to move away from the relegation zone, now looming only four points below them.

Grant Holt celebrates against Swansea last year.

Swansea find themselves playing for both pride and cold hard cash as the season starts to draw to a close. All but mathematically safe, it was revealed this week the players are on bonuses related to where the team finishes in the league, so it literally pays for the squad to put in some performances before the season is up. Not that they should need it; the Swansea players have repeatedly denounced any accusations that they may find themselves "taking it easy" in the wake of their League Cup triumph, and with essentially nothing left to play for in the league, a win will be vital if they are to silence the murmurs once and for all, especially considering Norwich are developing into a bit of a bogey team for the Swans.

Prior Form (most recent at top)

Premier League                  Wigan          1 - 0   Norwich
Premier League                  Sunderland   1 - 1  Norwich 
Premier League                  Norwich      0 - 0   Southampton   
Premier League                   Man Utd      4 - 0  Norwich        
Premier League                  Norwich      2 - 1   Everton 



Premier League                Swansea       1 - 2  Tottenham

Premier League                Swansea       0 - 2   Arsenal        

Premier League                West Brom     2 - 1  Swansea

Premier League                Swansea       1 - 0  Newcastle
League Cup Final               Bradford        0 - 5  Swansea
              

Team News

Norwich will be without Anthony Pilkington who is still recovering from a hamstring injury, while 'keeper John Ruddy is nearing a return from a torn thigh muscle. Andrew Surman is out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery, but Ryan Bennett could be fit after picking up a knock in the Wigan game.

Swansea should have Chico Flores available after he was withdrawn against Spurs in a precautionary move, while Angel Rangel looks set to face a fitness test after a calf strain kept him out of the team last time out. Kemy Augustien and, remarkably, Neil Taylor are both pushing for inclusion in the match day squad after overcoming thigh and ankle injuries respectively.

Trivia - "Courtesy" of Opta, the BBC and various other sites;

• Norwich have won four of their last five matches against the Swans. 

• Referee Howard Webb, in charge for this fixture, has refereed Swansea matches six times since their promotion. Swansea are yet to win with Webb in charge.

• Last season Steven Fletcher scored the most headers of any player in the league with seven - Michu has six already and looks set to surpass the watermark set by the cerebral Scot.

• Norwich City have won all three of their Barclays Premier League clashes with Swansea City.

• In three Premier League games between the two teams, there have been 16 goals in total. 

• Of the teams to play more than 20 Premier League games in April, only Derby and Charlton averaged fewer points per game than Norwich (0.81 - W6 D4 L17). 

• Only Stoke (5) have picked up fewer points from their last 10 Premier League games than Norwich (9). 

• Swansea City are yet to win in the league this season when they have gone behind (D6 L11), but have only dropped five points from leading positions, winning 10 of the 12 games they have taken the lead in. 

• Norwich fans have only seen 31 goals at Carrow Road so far this season - the least of any of the Premier League grounds.

• Grant Holt has scored three goals in his last two league appearances against Swansea. 
• Norwich have failed to score in 5 of their last 7 matches in the Premier League.
• Norwich have failed to win in 13 of their last 14 matches.

Completely guessed lineups

Straight from the "horse's mouth";

Michael Laudrup thinks Norwich will look to utilise set-pieces to get at the Swans, as they try to claw their way clear of the relegation zone:

Michael Laudrup: Possibly watching Grant Holt
celebrate with his shirt off.

"We will know what to expect from them; they know they need six or seven points to get clear and they have four home games left.  It will be a hard game, a physical game against a side who have scored from the most set-pieces this season – more than Stoke, West Ham or Everton which surprised me – while we have conceded the most. 

“They are a strong team, they are at home but they are struggling with a very bad run. They will look at the same numbers in terms of points as everyone else and will know what they need to do and start winning, starting with us. They’ll know we’re a technical team but that we also concede from set-pieces, so they will go with what they are strong at, and when you suffer a little – and they are in a difficult moment after a very bad run in 2013 – then maybe you try and be direct as possible. 

“They are not quite safe, they might be little nervous and on a run like this they could be more direct. A combination – not of fear – but their moment and their strengths and our weakness at set-pieces, they might say let’s get as many corners and free-kicks as we can. We know what to expect and what we have to be prepared for.” 

“As a player, you always have teams you don’t fancy playing. Will our players have any fear of playing Norwich? I really don’t think so. Half the players were not here last season. I think the players will be more worried about going out and getting a result and some points – and that is what the last seven games is all about.” 

"We have players that I cannot do anything about the height of – Leon, Wayne, Nathan, Pablo and Jonathan. Those are the players we have for our style so we just have to be aware of what we can expect, but remember there is only one ball and the more we can keep it the less chance of giving them set-pieces and direct play.”

Chris Hughton when questioned about the Canaries recent form:

“I think you have to look at performances [over the last few months] and where some of those games were. You could turn it round and say we have lost three of the last 10. For clubs of our ilk, the home form is so important and this next one is a big game. We have to use that advantage at home because we have a tremendous support who want to get behind us and we have to give them something to shout about. The home form generally this season has been good and we need to continue that. 

“The biggest blow for me at Wigan was the result. I know we have to look elsewhere at the other results around us as well, but the bigger blow was what happened after a Sunderland game where we had a good result and a performance. I couldn’t see us losing last week. If I look at the way the game panned out we were probably in the attacking third for an away game more often than any other this season. What we weren’t able to do was convert that into real good chances and goals.” 

Analysis

Irrespective of whether or not the Swans players are easing into a canter as the summer approaches, it still takes two to tango and over the last few weeks it seems every team the Swans have met have been absolutely desperate for points, and Norwich are no exception. Looking to kick-start their season, they'll definitely see the Swans, themselves coming off the back of three straight losses, as a team they can secure three points against.

Chico Flores return from injury didn't go as well as he'd have hoped last week, and he'll have to be on the ball from the off (along with defensive partner Ash Williams) if he's to stop Kei Kamara from endearing himself even further to Norwich fans. The striker from Sierra Leone has made a good impression since signing from Kansas City on loan, and will be looking to add to the one goal he has managed so far, a late equaliser against Everton which saw his team go on to win.

Will Ki regain his starting berth in the Swansea engine room?

The Swans have struggled to retain possession in recent times, and given Norwich's poor form I feel we must revert back to three dedicated central midfielders if we are to secure three points. We need control of the midfield, and the poor form of Pablo Hernandez and, to a lesser extent, Nathan Dyer has not helped the Swans in their quest to hold on to the ball.  De Guzman too has been poor over recent weeks, but it would help him massively if he was the more attacking midfielder of a designated midfield trio, as opposed to one of two central midfielders playing behind the "three wingers" formation.

As mentioned by Laudrup, Norwich have scored more goals from set-pieces than any other team in the Premier League this season, and have benefited equally from crosses, so it'll be of the utmost importance for the Swansea wingers to track Robert Snodgrass and Elliot Bennett if they are to limit the service to the Norwich frontmen. Ki & Leon will likely be charged with keeping the ball away from Bradley Johnson and Alex Tettey, and given that the Swansea midfielders are (respectively) the second and sixth most accurate passers in the Premier League you'd have to fancy their chances.

All of the recent history, and even the selection of referee seems to be going against the Swans for this one, but there is a lot of talk online from Norwich fans which seems to indicate they aren't as confident as we'd expect them to be. If the Swans can keep the ball away from Wes Hoolahan in particular, then there is a definite chance they can secure three points here. Hoolahan has proven to be a classy operator during his time at Norwich, and I rate the Irish international; the Swans defence will have to stop him linking between the Norwich midfield and Kei Kamara up top if they want to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and it'll be important to do this early on so that they can retain possession and settle into their game-plan early on.

Michu will be looking to add even more goals to his tally after ending a mini-drought with a consolation goal against Spurs, and up against Sebastian Bassong and Michael Turner he'll have to be at his aerially-imperious best if he's to get any joy against those two. Bassong hit the headlines earlier this season for his own goal-scoring exploits, but it'll be in defence he's needed most come 3pm as the Swansea forward line descend on the Norwich defence.

The Swans need, more than ever, to control this game from the off. Norwich's need for points could see the match descend into a scrappy affair which would definitely suit the East Anglian hosts more than their South Walian visitors, so it's critically important the Swans retain possession early on and look to secure the first goal - as the stats show the Swans are good once in front but dreadful once behind.

Difficult to call as ever, I'm going to go for a slim Swansea win for this one. Norwich have been out of sorts for a while, and I can see Swansea doing enough to come away one nil winners. Now, let's just sit back and see if I end up with egg on my face come 5pm Saturday afternoon.

Iechyd Da.