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The Villans have the upper hand in the head-to-head, with ten wins to Norwich City’s four, from their 19 encounters in the Premier League. The Canaries have particularly struggled on the road in this head to head and are winless in their last eight Premier League visits here. Villa have won each of the last four matches between the sides in the Premier League.
Therefore, 101 Great Goals’ prediction for this match is Aston Villa 2 – 1 Norwich City and is available at odds of 8.5/1.
Alternatively, you can bet on any Aston Villa win at 1.44/1 against Norwich City at home on Saturday.
Or, back any away win for Norwich City at 8.5/1 here at Villa Park.
You can find odds of 4.2/1 for any draw between Aston Villa and Norwich City on Saturday.
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Match preview
Despite a positive start, the era of his replacement Steven Gerrard hasn’t been going too well for Villa lately. They have the longest winless run in the Premier League at present, which currently stands at five games, collecting just one point from those five matches.
Their home record, which had been their strength this season, has also tailed off as of late. They have won just one of their last seven at home and have lost three of their last four here at Villa Park. Although, it included tough fixtures against Spurs and Arsenal who are battling for Champions League football.
As bad as Villa are at home, the Canaries are even worse as travellers in the Premier League. They have picked up one point from their last five Premier League matches on the road with only Everton having a worse record than their nine points from 16 away games this season.
A defeat here for Dean Smith’s side, coupled with a Burnley win at Watford, would see Norwich’s relegation to the Championship confirmed after just one season in the Premier League. In contrast, Villa cannot mathematically secure safety from relegation at the weekend, but a win coupled with a defeat for Everton against Chelsea would see them move 11 points ahead of the Blues with just 15 points left to play for.
In truth, Villa are likely already safe as it is unlikely both Everton and Burnley can string together enough good results to kick them down into 18th in the table. Steven Gerrard isn’t safe though. Dean Smith was sacked after a run of five straight defeats. Only a 0-0 bore draw at Leicester last weekend saved him from matching Villa’s worst run of form this season. However, a failure to beat Norwich here would give Gerrard Villa’s worst points return from any six game spell this season.
Bar a disastrous end of the season run in for Villa, it is likely he will be given the summer, pre-season and a summer transfer window to reshape his squad into what he believes they need to compete in the Premier League. He needs some positive results to get the fans and directors to buy into his ideas though and that has to start with what should be their easiest remaining game; at home to Norwich this Saturday.
Philippe Coutinho Goalscorer. – After exploding onto the scene after his January arrival from Barcelona, Coutinho (pictured above) has had a difficult seven weeks since scoring in back to back wins against Southampton and Leeds. The Brazilian hasn’t created or scored since those games and hasn’t created a single big chance from open play in any of his last six games. The former Inter, Liverpool and Bayern Munch man is the 5/1 joint-favourite to re-ignite his form by scoring the game’s opener on Saturday. Or 2.4/1 to bag a goal at any time during the game against Norwich City.
Aston Villa team news
Lucas Digne (pictured above) is likely ruled out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury. Although Gerrard is retaining a small hope that he could be involved in the final games of the season. Ashley Young is likely to continue at left-back in his absence.
Kortney Hause has been out of the last six matchday squads due to an abdominal issue. He looks likely to miss out again on Saturday. Bertrand Traore and Morgan Sanson both missed the trip to Leicester. Bertrand needs an MRI scan on his groin to determine the extent of his problem while Sanson is believed to have a knock that just requires some rest. Both will be unavailable here though.
Norwich City team news
Adam Idah, Andrew Omobamidele and Ozan Kabak are out for the rest of the season with knee, back and hamstring injuries respectively. Kabak has returned to Schalke for treatment and has likely played his last game for the club with his loan deal expiring this summer and neither the club nor player likely wanting to take up the option to make the deal a permanent one.
Joshua Sargent (pictured above) has missed the last four games due to an ankle injury. Smith is hopeful he can be involved in the squad here though and faces a late fitness test. However, Lukas Rupp remains out with a knee injury picked up in training.
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