Bottom of the table has become familiar for Norwich City this season and there is no way out unless the team starts winning. The Canaries have only lost twice in their past six games, but six points from that stretch is not enough to pick up the pace for survival, which now needs to be close to two points per game. The time is running out, as 13 games remain and the distance to safety is now seven points.
Against Newcastle on the road, Norwich performed once again in a manner that should provide the three points. Goal scoring has been an immense issue since the team has found their consistency defensively. Teemu Pukki has scored 11 of the team’s 24 goals, but hasn’t found the net in direct play since 14th December. He has scored two penalties since, but his flying start has come to an end. The support has been lacking all season and the likes of Todd Cantwell and Emiliano Buendia need to start contributing, if Norwich are to fight for their survival.
At Newcastle the issue was all too obvious. The hosts managed to shut down Pukki, although the Finn got a couple of great chances. Connection with newly acquired Ondrej Duda seems to be working and Duda himself squandered an easy chance after Martin Dubravka had denied Pukki at a close range. Duda’s left footed strike ended up in the side netting.
There were a lot of positives in the game as well, and under normal circumstances a draw on the road would be a decent result. But in Norwich’s current predicament, its not enough. Defensively the visitors were solid and Tim Krul got another clean sheet rather easily. Norwich also kept the possession for the most of the game and created enough chances to win the game. This time it was not meant to be, but the win will come sooner or later. For Daniel Farke and his troops, sooner the better.
The road to survival is not getting any easier, as Liverpool will visit Carrow Road on the 15th February. After that the road takes to Wolverhamton on 23rd. Do not forget Dafabet’s Norwich City Prediction Challenge to win free weekly bets!
