Norwich City vs Brighton & Hove Albion Prediction: No cards a shout

One of the most famous weekends of the sporting calendar, FA Cup Third Round weekend, has arrived and there’s so many fixtures to look forward to. We are going to focus on an interesting tie between Championship outfit Norwich City, and Brighton & Hove Albion, who currently sit 10th in the Premier League table. 

The Canaries scored two goals in injury time to dramatically beat Coventry last time out and will hope to take that confidence into the FA Cup clash which kicks off at 15:00 on Saturday. Below you can find my Norwich City vs Brighton & Hove Albion prediction featuring team news and betting tips. 

Team News

After his late brace off the bench, Amankwah Forson is set to start this one after a slow start to his Norwich career. They were the first goals he has scored for the club since joining this summer, and he’ll be keen to prove himself against Premier League opposition. 

Lewis Dobbin may be given a start having joined on loan from Aston Villa, with top scorer Borja Sainz now banned for six matches having been charged with spitting by the FA, while Onel Hernandez could be given a start in the number nine role now Ashley Barnes has departed for Burnley. 

Jack Stacey, Jose Cordoba and goalkeeper Brad Hills may also be called upon by Johannes Hoff Thorup as he could rotate his side for this cup clash. 

Brighton welcomed Jack Hinshelwood back to training this week after his spell on the sidelines, and he could be included in the matchday squad, although anything more than a cameo from the bench would be a surprise. Brighton drew 1-1 with Arsenal last time out but I’d expect Fabian Hurzeler to make a raft of changes for this one, as is the case for most Premier League teams at this stage of the season. 

Jason Steele, Jakub Moder, Solly March, Julio Enciso, Tariq Lamptey, Yankuba Minteh and Adam Webster should all be given minutes, while Georginio Rutter should start up front in place of Joao Pedro up front. 

Norwich City vs Brighton & Hove Albion Odds

Norwich are priced at 9/2 to win this match, having only lost two league matches at Carrow Road so far this term. Brighton are available at 1/2, giving the Seagulls an implied win probability of 67%, while a draw can be backed at 16/5. 

Over 2.5 goals is 8/13, both teams to score is 7/10 and Norwich to win 2-1 for the second game in a row is 16/1.

Draw @ 16/5

This is a new-look FA Cup Third Round let us not forget, and I think it could lead to a lot more draws after 90 minutes. Now that replays have been scrapped (a disgraceful decision), clubs are going to have to settle things on Saturday. Premier League clubs pushed for this move to save their legs, when in fact it is the EFL clubs that play more games over a domestic season. 

Anyway, that is a conversation for another time but I think we will see plenty of draws this weekend as teams no longer have to attack in the last few minutes to avoid a replay. I think there will be a fair few cagey matches in the FA Cup on Saturday, and these two teams could produce an even encounter. Big price on a draw after 90 minutes in my eyes. 

No cards @ 25/1 

A different approach for this second selection. With both of these teams likely to make multiple changes, I think we could see a fairly tepid and polite affair between these two outfits. Norwich only picked up one yellow card against Coventry and that came through Emiliano Marcondes, who could drop out of the midfield, while Sainz’s absence also reduces Norwich’s bite. 

Meanwhile Brighton only picked up two yellows against Arsenal and sit joint-second in the Fair Play table. This should be a relatively clean affair and I think there’s a fair shout to consider backing the unders market in terms of booking points. However, I’m going one step further with zero bookings available at a tempting 25/1.