On Sky
Having been so soundly beaten last week after producing an abject performance at Bournemouth. Norwich need to re-capture the momentum they had prior to ‘giving up’ in the FA Cup against Manchester City or things could get ugly.
It’s been a good week though for the Canaries after two big signings this week. Steven Naismith is all action and will make things happen and never give up. Timm Klose is slightly more of an unknown quantity but he has pedigree and has been praised by many pundits this week.
Could they be the men to keep Norwich up? With Ivo Pinto also having joined and Alex Neil being quoted as saying that he’s trying to do a ‘couple more bits of business,’ at least the club are trying in the transfer window.
Vital Quotes:
Steven Naismith: ‘He (Alex Neil) knows what my attributes are and hopefully I`ll bring an attacking threat and hopefully some chances and goals.”
Alex Neil: ‘We’ll need to be careful about putting too many new players into the team at one time. Steven (Naismith) is used to playing in the Premier League so I don’t think his transition is going to be too much of a problem. Timm (Klose) hasn’t trained for a couple of days, so I’ll need to bear that in mind when I’m selecting the team.’
Norwich City Team News:
Steven Naismith is fit and raring to go. He could make his debut against the reds. Timm Klose is fit but has only trained twice with his new team mates. Alex Neil, citing Klose’s lack of time to get used to his new surroundings, says he will consider Klose. Ivo Pinto is in the squad.
Player to watch: Steven Naismith
Steven Naismith, who else? The new boy makes his debut against Liverpool and was quick to point out in his first presser, that he scored his first goal for Everton against the reds.
Liverpool Team News:
Adam Lallana misses out with a muscle problem and Daniel Sturridge has suffered another injury setback. No surprise there, then.
Player to watch: Roberto Firmino
The Brazilian forward has looked like a new man since the arrival of Jurgen Klopp. His performance against Arsenal was tremendous as he scored two top goals. Expect him to play as a false number nine – potentially leaving our centre backs with no-one to mark – just like most weeks.
Match Facts & Stats
Norwich have lost nine of the last 11 league meetings with Liverpool, drawing the other two.
Liverpool have scored 22 goals in their last six Premier League games against Norwich, although 12 of those were scored by Luis Suarez.
The last time Norwich beat Liverpool was in 1994 (0-1 Goss)
Norwich are aiming to avoid a third consecutive league defeat.
But the Canaries are unbeaten in their last five home league matches (W3, D2), and have won their last two.
Liverpool are looking for their first league win in 2016 (D1, L2).
The Reds have scored just one goal in their last four away matches in the league, losing three of those games.
Match Prediction:
A tough one to call. Norwich cannot afford to play like they did last week and Alex Neil will demand a reaction – we all will.
Jurgen Klopp is likely to play with no recognised striker and start Benteke on the bench after he was involved in the FA Cup in mid-week.
Much will depend on our new signings, I suspect. Naismith looks certain to start. Pinto is in the squad, after last week, I’d start him. Klose is fit but not yet settled – a risk to play him? Possibly.
Without Luis Suarez being present and Liverpool not scoring hatfuls of goals at the moment, we look like we could give them a game. Get some crosses into the box and Naismith and Mbokani can get onto them.
We really need to get something from this game, as ever I’m positive.
2-1 win for the Canaries.
Next Fixtures:
A very tough looking home game against Spurs, under the lights on the evening of February 2nd.
