Canaries to fall off their perch against West Ham
Norwich City look to be heading back to the Championship after a torrid season in the Premier League but will West Ham United be joining them? Have a read of our preview here:
Time for some realism
Norwich knew they realistically had to be Brighton last weekend if they were to have even a glimmer of hope at avoiding the drop back to the Championship. They put in a typically spirited performance but were stung by one mistake which saw them fall to another defeat.
It summed up their season and demonstrated that, despite having more than enough quality to dominate in the second tier, the Premier League is more ruthless than a Siberian winter and will chew you up and spit you out as soon as look at you.
Daniel Farke was man enough to admit now is time to be realistic and avoiding relegation is not something the Canaries can keep thinking about.
"After a few losses, we don't have the right to make any fighting messages or to make any unrealistic claims. We are not naive, let's show our pride,” he told the BBC following the loss.
Tuesday night’s trip to Watford is as much of a ‘must-win’ as the Brighton game was but even if Norwich can bag three points at Vicarage Road, they still have to beat West Ham and another two teams to avoid relegation, even then it would not be guaranteed.
Let’s hope they keep Farke and rebuild for another strong challenge at bouncing back, something that is harder to do than it looks.
One performance can change a season
West Ham looked in a lot of trouble just a week ago, but one swallow does not a summer make, yet a huge win can do wonders to a team’s survival hopes.
The Hammers 3-2 victory against rivals Chelsea may well be seen as the moment that changed their season. No one would have given David Moyes’ side a hope in hell at coming out of the game with three points, yet they managed it.
Andriy Yarmolenko’s late strike hammered a stake through the heart of Chelsea’s Champions League dream while also highlighting how much the West Ham have missed the Ukrainian, who has been injured for much of the season.
Like Norwich, they face a mid-week game before heading to East Anglia and that will see them take on Burnley at the London Stadium on Wednesday.
This comes off the back of a two-all draw against Newcastle meaning West Ham have managed to avoid defeat in back-to-back Premier League games for the first time since September.
Michail Antonio bagged his 30th top-flight goal in that one, a player who is finding some form at the right time for the Hammers.
Norwich City v West Ham betting tip
Norwich know they are unlikely to survive but Daniel Farke has called for them to play with pride, the problem is they just cannot score. That is why we are backing West Ham to win at odds of 2.25 with Betfair in this one.
