Hungry Foxes ready to feast on generous Canaries
Published:
Danny Welbeck’s infinitesimally small yet crucial touch on Mesut Ozil’s free-kick in the dying moments to seal victory for Arsenal over Leicester a fortnight ago will only reveal it’s true implications as May draws to a close, but this weekend the Foxes can make a quick reply healing those wounds.
Few declared Claudio Ranieri’s deserved anything less than a point at the Emirates, and despite the Gunners late winner, Leicester still hold a two-point lead at the top of the table.
With Arsenal as well as title rivals Tottenham playing on Sunday, and Man City in League Cup action, Leicester’s clash with Norwich on Saturday afternoon is the perfect opportunity to reassert themselves and open up a five-point lead for 24 hours at least.
Successive wins across New Year over Aston Villa and Southampton had many feeling Alex Neil’s Canaries had enough about them to stay up this term, but one point from their last six matches is very much relegation form.
Leicester are 1/2 for victory at the King Power Stadium, with the draw at 16/5 and the visitors 5/1 for three points.
Given Norwich’s defensive woes, coupled with Leicester’s offensive prowess makes backing Norwich a very hard to do with any confidence.
Since the 1-0 win over Southampton on January 2, the Norfolk side have conceded 18 goals, averaging three a game.
That defence now faces the joint-most potent team in the league, with only Man City matching Leicester’s 48 goals this season.
Claudio Ranieri allowed his side some time off following the Arsenal defeat, and with Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez fresh and raring to go, the Norwich back-line could be in for a long afternoon.
The duo have already netted 33 goals between them in the Premier League, three more than Norwich’s entire team.
Vardy is 16/5 to open the scoring, as he did in the 2-1 win at Carrow Road in October, and the Englishman is 10/11 to bag goal number 20 of the campaign at any time.
Mahrez is a 5/1 shout for the opener on Saturday afternoon, and can be backed at 7/5 to score in the 90.
For Leicester this could be the perfect game to kick-start this unlikely title-chase, while for Norwich it could prove to be the latest blow in a campaign that is quickly heading in the wrong direction.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
