Norwich City will continue their fight against relegation when they welcome Chelsea to Carrow Road on Thursday night.
As is stands, the Canaries find themselves rock bottom of the Premier League table – five points from safety and 36 points behind Chelsea.
Yes Mase! ✊ pic.twitter.com/GYQUmsbg9K— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) March 8, 2022
Yes Mase! ✊ pic.twitter.com/GYQUmsbg9K
At the opposite end of the standings, Chelsea occupy third place. Although they are ten points behind second-place Liverpool, they hold a five-point lead over fourth-place Arsenal.
Norwich have only managed to win four of their 27 Premier League games this season, recording five draws and 18 losses along the way.
Dean Smith’s men head into Thursday’s clash on a four-game losing streak, having fallen to Manchester City, Liverpool, Southampton and Brentford in recent weeks.
It is also worth noting that Norwich have won just two of their previous 15 league matches, registering three draws and ten defeats in the process.
Not only are the Canaries the lowest scorers in England’s top flight, but they also have the second-worst defensive record. They have not been good enough at both ends of the pitch.
On the flip side, Chelsea have suffered just three defeats in 26 league games this term – picking up 15 wins and eight draws for their troubles.
Alongside Man City, the Blues boast the best defensive record in the division – having conceded only 18 goals throughout the campaign.
Thanks to an easy 4-0 victory over Burnley last weekend, Thomas Tuchel’s men have lost just one of their past ten outings across all competitions.
Although Man City and Liverpool appear to be competing in a two-horse title race, Chelsea have well and truly cemented third place.
Head-to-head: Chelsea claimed a crushing 7-0 victory over Norwich in the reverse fixture back in October, with Mason Mount netting a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge.
Norwich’s last win against the Blues came all the way back in 1994. Since then, Chelsea have won 14 of the 18 meetings between the teams, while the other four matches were drawn.
Team news: Norwich centre-back Ozan Kabak is a doubt for Thursday’s clash. Elsewhere, Adam Idah and Andrew Omobamidele are both injured.
Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell looks set to miss the remain of the season. Cesar Azpilicueta is also an injury doubt for Thursday.
Given the 36-punt gulf between these two sides, Chelsea are expected to claim a comfortable victory over Norwich.
Forebet predicts that Chelsea will score over 2.5 goals on their way to dispatching the Canaries, keeping a clean sheet in the process.