City vs Norwich: Match Preview

It's been another great week to be a Manchester City fan. Not only have we secured a place in our third semi final in as many years, but we have also beaten Arsenal away from home for the first time in 27 visits - incredible stuff. 

Sitting at the top of the league, it seems the sky is the limit for us this season - apart from in Europe. However, I will look at the Champions League situation in more depth after Saturday's game. Speaking of tomorrow's encounter, I would like to welcome any Norwich City fans who are taking a look at this match preview and congratulate you on a very good start to the season. 

As every football fan probably knows, Norwich secured their second successive promotion in May and were the first team to do this since, yes, you guessed it, Manchester City. We recognised the difficulty in jumping up two tiers within as many years, and were subsequently relegated. 

However, I see something different with this Norwich side. Personally, I believe Paul Lambert has done a terrific job at Norwich and deserves all the plaudits he is getting as his transfer policy is not only unique, but it seems to be working. Instead of buying "experienced" Premier League players who are past it, he has brought in some of the best of the players from the Football League.

Players like Steve Morison, who was drafted in from Millwall in the close season, has performed magnificently in his first ever Premier League season. In fact, his five goals this season have been keeping captain Grant Holt on the substitutes bench, which is some achievement. 

Trying to remove any sort of bias though, I find it hard to see Norwich getting a positive result tomorrow. We have been nothing short of breathtaking this season and with all respect to the Canaries, greater teams have been annihilated by ourselves this season already. 

Our home form is scintillating, and we have gone almost a whole year unbeaten at home, which is a remarkable achievement. For those who don't know, our last defeat at the Etihad Stadium was against Everton on the 20th December 2010, where we succumbed to a 2-1 defeat. 

Our key player on the day though will be David Silva, and we will once again need him to be in top form if we want to be playing at our best. I am not saying in any way that we are a one-man team, but I have never seen a player like Silva in the flesh in my life - he is absolutely immense and some of the things he can do with a football ceases to amaze me. 

Norwich come into the game on the back of a good result against QPR, and you get the feeling they will give it all they have got come 3pm on Saturday. I wish them all the luck this season, as it is good to see Lambert experimenting with the best of the football league, but I can't see them holding us to a result!

Prediction: 3-0 

Predicted lineup: Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Yaya Toure, Barry, Milner, Silva, Johnson, Balotelli

What do you think of my prediction? Leave your comments below!