Basement side Norwich City welcome Everton to Carrow Road with both sides looking for their first post-lockdown victory.
Norwich City Welcome Everton as They Aim to Stop the Rut in Their Bid for Survival
A Return to Action
Life after lockdown has been about as kind to Norwich City as it was before the break.
Daniel Farke’s men remain rooted to the foot of the table after their first game back saw them convincingly beaten 3-0 by a Southampton side that rarely required to get out of second gear.
The first 45 minutes saw the Saints apply an onslaught of pressure, peppering the Norwich goal, with Saints forward Danny Ings coming closest – rattling the host’s crossbar with a fierce right-footed effort just inside the penalty area.
Norwich could have considered themselves fortunate to make it to the half-time whistle level. However, their luck ran out just four minutes into the second half, Ings again utilising that dangerous right foot to lash a curled effort beyond the despairing Tim Krul.
Goals from Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond confirmed the Canaries fate and resigned the Norwich to their 19th defeat of the season.
Before the tie, manager Farke proclaimed that Norwich would require five wins from the remaining nine games. Having fallen at the first hurdle, the German conceded it was a dent to the players’ confidence.
Monday night’s visitors at Carrow Road are Everton, a side that up until the pause in action were in mixed form. Though life under serial winner Carlo Ancelotti has seen a morale boost around the blue half of Merseyside, the Italian’s side displayed stuttering form in the build-up to the break. Their last five league ties saw a lone draw alongside two wins and two defeats.
Norwich City’s Survival Prospects
For Norwich, it is make or break time to show any chance of escaping relegation. Six points from safety with eight games left to play, Daniel Farke knows time is running out quickly.
Farke’s philosophy has earned Norwich plenty of plaudits but, with just five league wins, his side has struggled to convert style into substance.
Though it must be noted that one of those five victories did come at Goodison Park, where goals from Todd Cantwell and Dennis Srbeny summoned an out of sorts Everton side, at the time led by Portuguese boss Marco Silva, to a rather humiliating home defeat.
Silva was sacked just a fortnight later after the Toffees were heavily beaten by Liverpool.
Carlo’s Italian Job at Everton
It’s certainly a different Everton nowadays, with Ancelotti at the helm there seems to be a more prominent swagger to proceedings, the likes of Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson playing with confidence once again.
The Goodison Park faithful can take comfort in that their side more than held their own when they welcomed the champions-elect Liverpool on Sunday evening. Making the short trip across Stanley Park, Jurgen Klopp’s side struggled to break a resilient Everton down, and the derby ended 0-0 with the hosts having the better of the chances.
Ancelotti will hope to use the point as a springboard to go on and take maximum points against Norwich. The Canaries know time is not on their side in a survival bid that may not recover from further setbacks.
Team News
Norwich are without a trio of defenders for the remainder of the season as Farke confirmed ahead of the Southampton tie that the campaign was over for Grant Hanley, Sam Byram and Christoph Zimmerman.
Hanley is to miss 12-16 weeks as he undergoes surgery to rectify a hamstring injury; Byram is also suffering from difficulties with his hamstring. Zimmerman’s lower back issues continue to plague his chances of playing.
There has been no update as to whether Marco Stiepermann will feature against the Toffee’s, after the German midfielder recently tested positive for COVID-19.
Everton will be without forward Theo Walcott as the former Arsenal man continues his rehabilitation after undergoing abdominal surgery last week. Jean-Philippe Gbamin remains sidelined with an Achilles injury.
Yerry Mina and Fabian Delph face a race against the clock as they struggle to shake off muscle injuries, but Portuguese midfielder Andre Gomes has been declared fit to play by manager Carlo Ancelotti.
Main Photo
