Carrow Road welcomes the return of Premier League football on Sunday as Norwich play host to Stoke.
The Canaries are back in the big time and will be looking to build on the point they picked up at Wigan on the opening day of the campaign.
Paul Lambert's side secured promotion out of the Championship last season on the back of an impressive home record and will be looking for more of the same this time around.
They suffered just four league defeats in front of their own supporters in 2010/11, with the last of those coming against Portsmouth on 11th December.
That record makes for impressive reading and the history books show that only one of the last 13 meetings between Norwich and Stoke has ended as an away win.
The odds appear to be stacked in the hosts' favour, especially as the Potters were in Europa League action on Thursday.
Tony Pulis will be hoping a continental clash has not taken too much out of his troops, especially as they have struggled on the road in recent times.
Stoke have failed to score in seven of their last nine away games, and their last three Premier League games in a row.
They have picked up just two points from a possible 30 in their last 10 top flight games away from the Britannia Stadium and desperately need to address that issue on Sunday.
Three wins from their last 14 games will give Pulis cause for concern, but he will be hoping the Potters can dampen what promises to be a carnival atmosphere at Carrow Road this weekend.
Team news
Norwich centre-back Zak Whitbread (knee) is a doubt for Sunday's clash.
Defender Daniel Ayala could feature following his move from Liverpool after
playing for the reserves in midweek.
Striker James Vaughan and centre-back Elliott Ward are sidelined after picking up minor knee injuries during pre-season.
Loan star Kyle Naughton will be hoping to make his Canaries bow after being left on the bench at the DW Stadium.
Stoke came through their clash with FC Thun in midweek unscathed, with Ricardo Fuller (Achilles) and Danny Higginbotham (knee) their only notable absentees.
Pulis is likely to shuffle his pack, though, having made several changes to his side in Europe.
Matthew Upson was handed his debut on Thursday, but he may drop back out of the team to make room for Jonathan Woodgate.
Asmir Begovic and Glenn Whelan could also be recalled to the starting XI against Norwich.
Matthew Etherington has shaken off the injury he picked up against Chelsea on the opening weekend and, having figured against Thun, will once again be in contention for a starting role.
Possible starting XIs
Norwich: Ruddy, Martin, Whitbread, De Laet, Tierney, Crofts, Surman, Hoolahan, Fox, Holt, Morison.
Stoke: Begovic, Wilson, Shawcross, Woodgate, Huth, Pennant, Delap, Whelan, Etherington, Jones, Walters.
No comments:
Post a Comment