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Brentford v Norwich: Get with New Year's Eve goals at Griffin Park

"Over 2.5 Goals is backable at 1.84 and is without doubt the most eye-catching angle to take. It’s a selection that’s proven profitable in 16 of Norwich’s past 19 league outings."

Saturday 31st January, 17:30Live on Sky Sports 1

Brentford 


Sullay Kaikai
 scored two equalisers in the last seven minutes as Brentford rescued a Boxing Day point in dramatic fashion against Cardiff at Griffin Park. The Bees had two reasonable penalty shouts waved away but for large parts of the game were pedestrian, lacking ideas and a goal threat.


Much maligned manager Dean Smith 
made the right moves from the bench to give the Londoners a route back into that Cardiff clash but supporters are starting to lose patience with Brentford's ineffective displays. The Bees have now W2-D1-L5 since an impressive derby victory at QPR in late October.

Smith has said full-back Josh Clarke is now fit to return to action and left-back Tom Field is establishing himself back in the XI following injury. Elsewhere, Josh McEachran is back in contention for a starting berth.

Norwich 


Norwich's 3-1 reverse at Reading was their eighth defeat in 10 and left many fans calling for Alex Neil's head. Over 90% of votes cast in a local media poll suggested it was time for the Scot to leave Carrow Road.


However, the Canaries board reaffirmed their faith in the City boss in midweek despite the Norfolk outfit sliding to 12th in the Championship standings, seven points adrift of sixth-placed Sheffield Wednesday.


Norwich's woeful attempts at defending set-pieces proved their undoing at the Madjeski Stadium but the guests' inability to defend full-stop or their inability to repel aggressive, high-pressing midfields makes them particularly vulnerable travellers.


The visitors head to the capital with a number of concerns. Graham Dorrans' injury and Jonny Howson's one-game ban reduce Neil's central midfield options. Youssouf Mulumbu's expected to return but Louis Thompson is also unavailable.


Match Odds


Norwich hammered Brentford 5-0 at Carrow Road at the start of December but Howson and Dorrans were key performers that day and both miss out. Still, the Canaries boast a superior head-to-head record (W3-D0-L1) when pitching up at Griffin Park.


The Canaries arrive on the back of eight defeats in 10 and have conceded the opening goal in eight of their 10 away days. With Alex Neill's men having W0-D1-L5 in their past six road trips, it's hard to find the faith to back City at 2.82.


Brentford have W1-D1-L3 in their past five Griffin Park games but the Bees have shipped at least two goals in four of those fixtures. The Bees have W3-D3-L7 when taking on teams above them in the table and are equalling unappealing at 2.74 quotes.


Over/Under 2.5 Goals


Over 2.5 Goals 
is backable at 1.84 and is without doubt the most eye-catching angle to take. It's a selection that's proven profitable in 16 of Norwich's past 19 league outings, as well as nine of the Canaries last 10 on their travels.


City's past 19 matches have produced 67 goals - an average of 3.53 goals per-game - whilst only Rotherham have shipped more goals on their travels this term. Meanwhile, the visitors have notched in 18 of their 23 league dates.
Over 2.5 Goals has banked in each of the last four meetings between the two sides, as well as 19/34 (56%) Griffin Park games since the beginning of the 2015/16 season.


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