Okay, so City’s opening day didn’t quite go according to plan with a 1-0 defeat at Spurs, but the blues have an opportunity to get their first three points on the board when newly promoted Norwich City arrive in Manchester.
It will be the first home game of the season and hopefully will
go better than last season’s first home game when Leicester battered us 5-2,
and the fans were thankful the stadium was empty for that one.
It’s a 3 o’clock start for the blues on Saturday, which is most
unusual and the match will be the 71st time these two have met. City
have come out on top in most of the meetings, with the blues winning 37 and
losing just 10 in the history between the two.
Saturday’s meeting will be the first time since 1992 that the two teams have met in August, when City ran out 3-1 winners, thanks to a David White brace and a first goal in a City shirt from Steve McMahon. Former blue Gary Megson, who scored just twice in four seasons at City, scored for the visitors, which would turn out to be his only goal of the season.
City have played Norwich 6 times in August and the bleus have come out on top four times and losing just one. Half of the August games have been played in Manchester, with City winning all three, scoring three goals in each game.
In the Premier League, City met welcomed the Canaries to Manchester 9 times and only lost once – a 3-2 home defeat in May 2013 when Jack Rodwell scored twice for City. In 1997, the teams met at Maine Road in Division 1 and Norwich won 2-1, and their previous victory prior to that was in 1964 when the Canaries won 2-0 at Maine Road.
In between, City enjoyed a 22-match unbeaten home run against Norwich, winning 16, including a 6-0 victory in the FA Cup in 1981 when City hit the road to Wembley.
City have won the last three home matches against Norwich and have knocked in a few goals while they were at it. A 7-0 home win in November 2015 was followed with a 2-1 win on Halloween two years later. City then thumped the Canaries 5-0 on the last day of the 2019/20 season as Norwich said goodbye to the Premier League for a season.
Norwich’s victory in May 2013 was the first time they had scored more than two on City soil.
The blues have kept fourteen clean sheets in this fixture and have not failed to score at home to Norwich since a 0-0 draw in 1980. Prior to that, City have only failed to hit the target twice previous.
Jack Grealish could make his home debut for City on Saturday in front of the City faithful.
Prediction:
City didn’t get the start they wanted and will be
eager to make up for that. Norwich often get a goal in this fixture but City
should be too strong for them.
Manchester City 4-1 Norwich