Norwich City v Arsenal - Match Preview
The early kick off in the Barclays Premier League this weekend sees Paul Lambert's newly promoted Norwich City take on Arsenal at Carrow Road.
The early kick off in the Barclays Premier League this weekend sees Paul Lambert's newly promoted Norwich City take on Arsenal at Carrow Road. But whilst this game may once upon a time have seemed like a foregone conclusion, 2011/12 has already thrown up several curveballs, and only a fool would rule out the chance of an upset at this stage. The last time these two met at Carrow Road, Arsenal were looking to extend their 42 match unbeaten streak in the Premier League to 43. They did so in style as Reyes, Henry, Pires and Bergkamp fired the Gunners to a 4-1 win, they ended up scoring 87 goals that season as their fast paced attacking mentality won them a lot of admirers. Fast forward 7 years however and one could be forgiven for thinking that the tables have turned slightly, the Norfolk outfit have settled into life in the Barclays Premier League well, their spirited performances against the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United have forced fans to sit up and take notice of their forward thinking style of play, and in Paul Lambert they have one of the most revered young managers in English football. There's very little margin for error for an Arsenal team that not long ago were sitting in the relegation zone; but Lambert's team will not want to read too much into their early season form, whilst they sit pretty in 9th position on face value, the reality is that they are still only 4 points above the drop zone. So what do we have to expect from tomorrow's encounter? The facts are these, Norwich are yet to keep a clean sheet in their first season back in the Premier League since they were relegated on the final day in 2004/2005 with a 6-0 defeat to Fulham, and whilst their attacking play has attracted admiration from alot of neutrals, their defensive displays at times have been far from impressive. Having shipped 6 goals in their last 2 fixtures, it won't inspire Canaries fans for me to remind them that they have conceded in all twelve games that they've competed in in the league and cups this season, including a 4-0 home loss to League One's MK Dons. So in Robin Van Persie, they find themselves up against a player who they could do without having to worry about. The flying dutchman is in the form of his life, 11 goals in 11 league games, including 8 in his last 4, and 29 goals in 28 league games in 2011 has meant that if RVP hits the back of the net tomorrow, he will become only the 5th player in Premier League history to score 30 league goals in a calendar year, some motivation I think you'll agree. However, there's no I in team, and if Norwich can shut out the undoubted offensive threat that Arsenal pose, this game is theirs for the taking. Were the league being judged on away form, Arsenal would be sitting in 16th, having collected just 4 points from a possible 15 on the road this season, conceding a league high of 18 goals in the process, whilst the Canaries have only been toppled from their perch once in 5 league games on home soil this season. The key for the Norwich will be set pieces and wing play, they have scored the joint-most headed goals (6) in the league this season, and it is no secret that if Arsenal has one weakness that stands head and shoulders (pardon the pun) above the rest, it is their inability to defend from set piece and crossing situations. The Gunners conceded 23 goals from set pieces last season, meaning that with a percentage of 53.5%, they conceded the highest proportion of the goals from set-pieces last season in the Premier League.