Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Norwich City

Wolverhampton Wanderers will be keen to wave goodbye to the Molineux Stadium faithful with a bang when they take on dead-last Norwich City in the penultimate round of the Premier League fixtures.

Wolverhampton’s humiliating 5-1 home thumping to Manchester City in midweek Premier League action has likely condemned them to a finish outside the European spots. With only two matchdays left, Wolves trail seventh-placed West Ham United by five points, courtesy of an abysmal five-game winless league streak (D1, L4). However, the visit of already-relegated Norwich in the penultimate round could offer Bruno Lage’s side a glorious opportunity to give the Molineux crowd a parting gift they deserve. Indeed, the ‘Wanderers’ have never lost a top-flight home meeting with Norwich (W8, D2), keeping a clean sheet in 70% of those encounters. That must be comforting from Lage’s point of view, given that his men have lost both previous Premier League home fixtures by a 3+ goal margin.

On the other hand, Norwich City have once again confirmed their reputation as an archetypal ‘yo-yo’ club, having suffered relegation from the Premier League with few matches to spare. The ‘Canaries’ succumbed to a dreadful 3-0 defeat at Leicester City last time out, stretching their losing league run to five games. By extension, Dean Smith’s men have only won one of their 15 previous Premier League fixtures (D2, L12), going down to multi-goal margins in 12 of them. Norwich’s defensive woes have been brutally punished this season, with the ‘Canaries’ conceding a league-high 78 Premier League goals thus far, their worst-ever tally in a specific top-flight campaign. Having let in 2+ goals in six of their last seven away league matches, Norwich will feel concerned about enduring another catastrophic weekend.