Norwich City play host to Leicester City on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League. The Foxes travel to Norfolk looking to bounce back from their humbling against Arsenal last weekend. Ranieri’s side’s unbeaten start to the season came to a halting end when the Gunners visited Leicester. A 5-2 home defeat will have stung this Leicester side and they will be hoping to get back on the front foot quickly when they face Norwich. The Canaries though are only sitting 3 points off Leicester in the league. Alex Neil’s newly promoted side are heading into the game on the back of a 3 game unbeaten streak. Two tough away draws against Liverpool and West Ham will mean that Norwich will be happy to get back on home soil and add a further 3 points to their survival bid. Leicester will want to bounce back and Norwich will want to dominate their home games to aid their attempts to avoid relegation, it could be a recipe for an exciting game.
Team News
Norwich City return to Carrow Road with a near fully fit squad at their disposal. Back up striker Gary Hooper is set to miss out for the next 3 weeks. While defensive midfielder Yousuff Mulumbu is still another 3 weeks away from a return to the side. I would expect that Nathan Redmond finds himself on the pitch from kick off this weekend after causing such an impact when subbed on last week.
Leicester City still have a long wait for the return of Matty James to the squad. He is still 4 months away from a potential recovery. The only other injury concern heading into the week is winger Nathan Dyer. The Swansea loanee is down as 3 days away from a return from injury. It would be wise to expect that he won’t return to the starting lineup but may be able to find a spot on the bench.
Statistics
There has only been two previous Premier League meetings between Norwich and Leicester City. They were in the 1994/95 season and both sides managed a home victory each.
Norwich have only lost once in their last 10 matches against Leicester City.
The sides last met in February 2012 in the FA cup. Leicester City won 2-1 at Carrow Road on that occasion.
The sides have faced off 45 times in their history. Norwich have managed 18 wins. Leicester meanwhile have been victorious 16 times.
First ever meeting between the two was a second division clash back in the 1935/36 season. Leicester got a 2-1 away win that day.
The last time the two teams had a league match at Carrow Road was in the championship 2010/11 season. Norwich ran out 4-3 winners.
That 4-3 Norwich win was the highest aggregate score in a match between the two.
Comparisons
Top Scorers 2014/15
Norwich City: Cameron Jerome (20). Bradley Johnson (15), Lewis Grabban (12)
Leicester City: Leonardo Ulloa (11), Jamie Vardy (5), Esteban Cambiasso (5)
Chances Created 2014/15
Norwich City: Nathan Redmond (117), Wes Hoolahan (86), Jonny Howson (42)
Leicester City: Riyad Mahrez (44), Esteban Cambiasso (36), Matty James (36)
Avg. Defensive Rating 2014/15
Norwich City: Carlos Cuellar (12), Sebastian Bassong (10), Russell Martin (8)
Leicester City: Wes Morgan (11), Wasilewski (10), Liam Moore (10)
Key Players
Norwich City: Nathan Redmond
Nathan Redmond made a point last week against West Ham. The young English winger was introduced to the game with 20 minutes to go and gave his side the lead with under 10 minutes left of the game. Redmond’s 3 goals already this season have shown his ability to adapt to top flight again after a year in the championship last season. He is the sides joint top scorer so far this season, bizarrely tied with Russell Martin, and also created more chances (16) than any other player in the squad. Even at the young age of 21 Redmond has made himself arguably the most influential player in Alex Neil’s squad and it would be wise to expect him to play a major role in anything good Norwich do on Saturday.
Leicester City: Jamie Vardy
We are only just entering October and Jamie Vardy already has more league goals than he scored last season for Leicester. Last season Vardy got himself an England call up with his 5 goals that meant he was joint 2nd top scorer at Leicester as they avoided relegation from the Premier League. This season Vardy has made sure he stays in England contention with 6 goals in 7 league appearance for the Foxes. The England international has backed that up by creating a further 11 chances for his side. The blistering start Vardy and team mate Mahrez have had to the season are a big part of what has made Leicester City so impressive to this point. After the 5-2 home defeat to Arsenal last week Leicester City will want to bounce back and after netting twice in that humbling defeat Vardy will want to continue to add to his goals tally but hopefully while securing vital points for his side this time.
Prediction
This is a match that could really go either way. After 2 draws on the road Norwich should be able to secure some sort of result at home. However, Leicester City have shown they are capable of dismantling most sides if they turn up. Im going to go with the kop out and say a draw. But, a high scoring draw for Norwich again.
2-2 draw.
