Norwich City will be welcoming Southampton to Carrow Road for Matchday 12 of the 2021-22 Premier League season. The Canaries are currently at the bottom of the Premier League table with just five points from their 11 games. They have had just one win so far, and are five points behind Watford, who are currently safe in 17th. The Saints, on the other hand, have a great squad and are sitting in 13th place with 14 points from their 11 games. In this post, we will analyze some of the stats for both teams for the preview of the game between the Canaries and the Saints.
Norwich City have recently sacked Daniel Farke and gone on to choose Dean Smith as their new manager. After a string of draws and defeats in the first 10 games of the season, they won their first game against Brentford in the last game before the international break. On the other hand, the Saints are unbeaten in four league games and have won their last two against Watford and Aston Villa by a scoreline of 1-0 in both games.
The above viz shows the xGA values for all teams in the division, and a lower value of xGA depicts a better defensive unit at the club. But Norwich City, for now, have the second-highest xGA of 21.66 and have conceded a total of 26 goals, the most in the division. Southampton, on the other hand, have had the fourth-lowest xGA in the division, as they have been brilliant defensively and have only conceded 12 goals in their 11 games. It will be difficult for the Canaries to find goals against the Saints defense.
Norwich City have had the lowest xG in all of the Premier League, with an xG of just 8.87 in 11 games. Also, they have underachieved this xG by scoring just five goals. On the other hand, the Saints have created more chances, and have an xG of 15.06. They have also underachieved this and have scored only10 goals. Both teams have struggled going forward, but the Canaries have struggled a lot.
Southampton have had the highest number of dribbles and successful dribbles in the entire division. They have been dribbling to get past defenders or opponents in general, and have done a decent job at it. The Canaries are sixth in the list of number of dribbles but are pretty low when it comes to successful dribbles.
Norwich City will be hoping for a positive start under new manager Dean Smith, as they hope to revive their season and try to get out of the relegation zone. Southampton are a decent side and will look to keep winning games in the coming weeks as well. We expect Southampton to get another 1-0 win in the match.
Norwich City possible starting lineup(4-3-2-1):
GK: Tim Krul; RB: Max Aarons, CBs: Omobamidele, Ben Gibson, LB: Brandon Williams; RM: Mathias Normann, CDM: Billy Gilmour, LM: Pierre Lees-Melou; CAMs: Milot Rashica, Kieran Dowel; ST: Teemu Pukki
Southampton possible starting lineup(4-4-2):
GK: Alex McCarthy; RB: Toni Livramento, CBs: Jan Bednarek, Mohammed Salisu, LB: Kyle Walker-Peters; LM: Mohamed Elyounoussi, CMs: Oriol Romeu, James Ward-Prowse, RM: Stuart Armstrong; CFs: Adam Armstrong, CharlieAdams
