If the comeback season in the Premier League has been disappointing for Norwich City, in the FA Cup their run has been more impressive. After beating Championship side Preston in the round of 64, they took on fellow Premier League club Burnley on Saturday at Turf Moor. Burnley’s season in the EPL has been decent and recently they’ve won two games in a row against Manchester United and Leicester, after losing four in a row. The 13th place team has collected 30 points, which is 13 points more than last placed Norwich. On Saturday, that difference didn’t show, quite the contrary.
Burnley started the game with most of their top players in the lineup, only rotating slightly. Norwich boss Daniel Farke decided to take a bit more risky approach and allowed some rest to his key starters. Substitutes bench featured Teemu Pukki, Alex Tettey, Kenny McLean and Max Aaron, while Josip Drmic, Mario Vrancic, Lukas Rupp and Jamal Lewis got the start. Number one keeper Tim Krul and also Todd Cantwell sat out entirely, with Emiliano Buendia out injured. The Norwich rotation players definitely made a case for themselves and performed to a highest standard, exactly what Daniel Farke had hoped for.
The arrivals of Ondrej Duda and Lukas Rupp to man the midfield has provided a spark for the whole team and there’s a sense of competition now especially in the middle of the field. Even 11-goal-scorer Teemu Pukki has some competition, with Josip Drmic in full condition and youngster Adam Idah challenging for the starting spot. It was indeed Josip Drmic who got his name on the winning goal, after Grant Hanley had first taken the visitors ahead on 53rd minute. Drmic then struck only four minutes later. Norwich was able to contain Burnley’s chase perfectly and the hosts only managed one shot on goal – which they did score from. Erik Pieters gave Burnley a lifeline, but Norwich kept their composure and progressed to FA Cup top 16.
Norwich can take a lot of positives from their victory when they travel to Newcastle in their next Premier League fixture on the first of February. Don’t forget Dafabet’s Norwich City FC Prediction Challenge in order to win free weekly bets.
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Newcastle vs Norwich (1×2): 2.28 – 3.35 – 2.90
