So, 2 out of 2 so far, can I make it 3 out of 3? Saints are on good form, picking up 7 points from a possible 9 in their last 3 matches. Norwich are also in good form, having not lost since the 6th October, beating Arsenal and Manchester United in the process, albeit at home. They have drawn all their away games since then, when they lost 4-1 at Chelsea. Norwich have also failed to win an away game so far this season, scoring only 4 and conceding 13 in their 7 away games. Saints have scored 12 times at home this season, conceding 11. It will probably be a close match, a narrow Saints win or a draw for me. A draw would not be a bad result for either side. The referee is the returning Mark Clatternburg, cleared to officiate again after the events at Stamford Bridge a few weeks ago. Lets face it, he can't do any worse than Martin Atkinson. One worry however is he likes his cards, so Morgan may well be only one mistimed challenge away from missing the trip to Anfield. Clatternburg booked Morgan against Fulham, so I would not be suprised to see Morgan on the bench on Wednesday. Adkins has to got to weigh up whether it's worth the risk to play Morgan on Wednesday or to save him for Liverpool. Team news: Saints may drop Schneiderlin to the bench to protect him for Saturday. Lambert also picked up a minor knock against Newcastle but should feature at least from the bench. Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy is a doubt after limping off in the 1-1 draw at Everton, so Mark Bunn (who!) may play in goal on Wednesday. Key men: The obvious here would be Lambert v Holt but I think they aren't the key men. Mine are: Saints - Gaston Ramirez. If Noriwch keep him quiet they have a decent chance of picking up a result. If not they may well go the same way as Newcastle. Simple as that. Norwich - Wes Hoolahan (on advice from Norwich fans). My prediction It really depends on whether Ruddy is fit or not. If he is fit, a 1-1 draw. If he isn't fit, a 2-1 win for Saints. Should be a good, open game and the result may depend on how Norwich handle Gaston Ramirez. Newcastle didn't handle him well at all and got well beaten.
Oh Tom...pride comes before a fall, let's hope not yet. Adkins will play his best side..no good resting Spider and miss out on three points on Wednesday and still lose against Liverpool. Would only do that if Saturday's match was the FA Cup Final. We must win the 'winnable' games and hope for a few of the others. Doesn't matter how we get 6/9 points this week, as long as we do. Lambert may be a doubt...but JRod shows he can score (even if not given) and Ramirez can take free kicks. I'm going for 1.0, 2.0 or 2.1 win to Saints.
Good point Fran, that was a good finish from JRod yesterday and will give him confidence even though it was disallowed.
Agree we play our strongest side on Weds. Home wins and momentum arer vital. Anything we get at Anfield a bonus. If we win 2 from our next three home games we will be away from trouble!
A potential problem with Morgan playing is that he may not put 100% into tackling, worried that he may be suspended for Liverpool. It's natural, who wants to miss playing at Anfield?
Morgan will give his all. He looks like he's being a little more sensible with his tackls at the moment; maybe Nigel had a word.
Whilst I agree that we need to play our best possible team and that this is a massive game for the Saints I also think that if Lambert, especially, has got a knock then there should be no hesitation in brining in Rodriguez. Lambert worked hard for 70 minutes yesterday and with 3 games in less than a week its all about getting the best out of the players in all 3 games. I'd stick with Schneiderlin though for sure, the suspension will happen sooner or later, when we will have to have faith in either Davis or JWP - not bad back up at all. Would like to se Mayuka at some point as I think his pace will cause Norwich problems but I can see us picking up the points in this one IF we defend properly. 3-1 saints.
Right now, I wouldn't, because that means that Punch and Lallana and the other forwards are keeping this form up. Shame for Mayuka, but the bench for me.
As Aston Villa play Reading on Tuesday, we could be back in the relegation zone tomorrow, so a win is important not only for the 3 points but also for the feel good factor which will be very important going into the Liverpool game.
That's the point. Morgan is a quality player, but both Davis and JWP have shown that they can play well in the PL. Morgan could always come off the bench if things aren't going to plan.
I would play Schneiderlin in this game, we're more likely to win with his influence against Norwich than we are against Liverpool.
Can't see Nigel tinkering with the team for the Norwich match, apart from enforced changes. Momentum is everything, though it will all depend on how the players are recovering from Sunday.
And would rather he played this one and was back in time for the next home game, rather than save him for Liverpool, lose anyway, and then don't have our strongest 11 against Reading, which for me is a must-win, in order to have us in a good position for the key Christmas period.
Just to clarify - I wasn't suggesting that Mayuka starts the game - our front players are too good for that at the moment. Just think that he could be a game changer against the type of defenders Norwich have and hope we are not shy in introducing him if we are, say, 1-1 with 20 mins to go.
Ref: M Clattenburg Linos: S Child, S Beck Sub: K Friend Pointless trivia: Same officials that refereed the Olympic final between Brazil and Mexico.
Would lve to see him get a decent run out. He must be feeling very frustrated. Let him take it out on Norwich!
Well each referee has the same assistants for every game. Obviously the fourth official could be anyone but the referee and the assistants generally stay together.
This game should prove to be much more of a test of our credentials then QPR or Newcastle were. Norwich are in fine form at the moment, as are we. Difficult to call the result of this one.
Lets hope that we play like Mexico then ! I would be really surprised if Nigel Adkins changes our starting 11 as they are showing some really good form as a team - unless Rickie or anybody else are injured of course.
