West Ham United vs Norwich City. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance59,775.
Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell and Angelo Ogbonna are out injured while Norwich will be without Billy Gilmour; follow West Ham vs Norwich in our dedicated live match blog; watch free match highlights on Sky Sports digital platforms and YouTube channel shortly after full-time
Wednesday 12 January 2022 18:17, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of West Ham vs Norwich in the Premier League on Wednesday; kick-off 7.45pm.
Vladimir Coufal could return for West Ham when they host Norwich. The Czech right-back was absent for the FA Cup win over Leeds on Sunday.
Fellow defenders Kurt Zouma, Aaron Cresswell and Angelo Ogbonna are out injured and Said Benrahma is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Algeria.
West Ham provisional squad: Fabianksi, Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Johnson, Rice, Soucek, Lanzini, Vlasic, Bowen, Antonio, Areola, Fredericks, Baptiste, Masuaku, Noble, Fornals, Yarmolenko.
Norwich are missing a number of players, with Billy Gilmour the latest on the treatment table.
The Chelsea loanee sustained an ankle injury in training last week which saw him sit out the 1-0 win at Charlton on Sunday. Dean Smith was already without Christoph Zimmermann (ankle), Andrew Omobamidele (back), Lukas Rupp (hamstring), Mathias Normann (pelvis) and Jonathan Rowe (Covid-19).
A boost for the Canaries was Tim Krul, Grant Hanley, Milot Rashica and Teemu Pukki being involved in the FA Cup success and they are set to start in the capital, while Todd Cantwell will need to be assessed after a recent absence due to illness.
Norwich provisional squad: Krul, Aarons, Hanley, Gibson, Williams, Lees-Melou, Sorensen, McLean, Sargent, Pukki, Rashica, Gunn, Byram, Kabak, Giannoulis, Dowell, Cantwell, Placheta, Tzolis, Idah, McGovern.
Follow West Ham vs Norwich in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after full-time.
Backing Norwich to lose without scoring has been the staple of my betting diet over the past two months. It's copped five games in a row, all at odds-against prices. However, timing is everything when it comes to jumping on and off a particular profitable angle and having watched the Canaries in most of those defeats, an end to their goal drought looks on the cards.
In that five-game barren run, Norwich have actually posted an expected goals figure of 4.08 which tells us that a mixture of bad finishing and a little bit of variance is to blame for their timid goals return rather than a problem with their chance creation metrics. The return of Teemu Pukki and Milot Rashica certainly will help matters. Both sprung from the bench to add much-needed quality to Norwich's attack in the 1-0 FA Cup win over Charlton on Sunday.
I have got no interest in backing Norwich in the match results markets against such a ruthless side like West Ham but they are worth a look in the shots and goals department at the advertised prices. Both teams to score at Evens with Sky Bet looks a tad juicy to me.
West Ham are also facing a lot of shots on their goal over the past month.
Without Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna they are defending deeper than usual with Craig Dawson's lack of pace a potential weakness, so opposition teams are finding territory easy to come by. The Hammers have faced a whopping 16 shots per 90 minutes in their last six fixtures.
Norwich's shots line has been set at 10+ shots with Evens available with Sky Bet. Although they lack quality in the final third, Smith's style is a forward-thinking one and they have posted 10 or more shots in all three of their away games under their new boss at Newcastle (16), Tottenham (10) and Crystal Palace (12). Combining both teams to score and Norwich to get 10 or more shots away at 4/1 should give you a great run.
SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1
BETTING ANGLE: Both teams to score and Norwich to have 10 or more shots (4/1 with Sky Bet)