Sunderland and Newcastle wins put Norwich in real danger
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Following their 3-2 win over Newcastle United at the start of the month, Norwich looked to be dragging themselves away from the Magpies and Sunderland in the bottom three.
However, back-to-back losses to fellow troubled clubs Crystal Palace and the Mackems have put the Canaries back in real trouble.
Alex Neil’s men are only one point clear of the Wearsiders and three clear of the Toon, but have played against more.
If the two north east outfits win their games in hand, Norwich will fall to 19th and are lacking the momentum of their relegation rivals.
The 3-0 win for Sunderland at Carrow Road once again proved that the perennial Premier League strugglers relish their final run in.
In the last three seasons, the Mackems have only lost three times in their final six fixtures of the season, winning eight.
Furthermore, in their previous two campaigns, putting on a run of form like this has been enough to pull them out of relegation trouble and the result against Norwich shows they have the ability to do so again.
Meanwhile, under the stewardship of Rafa Benitez, Newcastle look to be finally making the most of the talented squad they have assembled at St James’ Park.
The Spanish manager picked up his first win as Magpies boss with a 3-0 drubbing of Swansea City that ended a seven game winless run.
Arguably, Newcastle shouldn’t be struggling to stay out of the Championship, with big money signings Georginio Wijnaldum, Andros Townsend and Jonjo Shelvey failing to live up to their reputations.
However, with a Champions League winning manager at the helm, these players are stepping up, proven with Townsend’s goal against the Swans, and Norwich have to be worried that either of these north east clubs could usurp their place above the drop zone.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
