Betting: Norwich City are the favourites against Fulham but it looks very close

It’s often the case that punters who, when they see one side holding home advantage against longer-priced opponents, automatically place bets on an easy home victory without taking account of the visitors’ form or of other factors, such as their readiness to scrap for a point.

It may, therefore, come as a surprise to learn that while neither Norwich City nor tomorrow’s opponents, Fulham, have been in sparkling form of late, the Cottagers have held their own in the current form table over the past eight matches, whereas Norwich are 19th in the same hybrid league. Despite this, Fulham are 11/5 (Skybet) to win at Carrow Road tomorrow, while City are offered at 6/4 (Stan James) to register three points.

Of course, Norwich should win. Fulham were outstanding when beating the Canaries 5-0 at Craven Cottage back in August, but as everyone knows, they’re a different team when they set foot outside West London. However, it promises to be extremely close, a conclusion which supplements the appeal of William Hill’s 5/2 odds for it to finish all square.

Shrewder backers appear to have taken note of Fulham’s recent performances and BetVictor.com report “steady” support for their 4/1 chalked in favour of it finishing as a score draw, while Coral’s 9/2 for both halves to conclude with honours even has proved similarly appealing to switched-on punters.

The pair drew 1-1 in the corresponding fixture last term and a repeat of that outcome is rated an 11/2 shot by Ladbrokes. A one-goal margin of victory for Norwich is considered a 3/1 chance by bet365, while more precise folk have the opportunity to take Stan James’s 13/2 odds marked about a 1-0 home success.

However, there is little reason for punters to blindly assume that because the Canaries are at home, they’ll romp to a comfortable three points and Paddy Power’s 8/11 about both teams scoring is worthy of further consideration.