Norwich City vs. Everton
Venue: Carrow Road
Kick Off: 4PM
Everton will be looking to record their first Premier League victory since the start of December when they travel to basement side Norwich City this afternoon.
The Toffees are currently 15th in the table, just eight points clear of the relegation zone, while Norwich sit rock bottom of the division, having collected just 10 points from 20 games this term.
Norwich suffered their sixth straight Premier League defeat on Wednesday evening, going down 2-0 away to West Ham United, which made it eight league matches without a victory, while they have not scored a single goal in England’s top flight since the end of November.
A record of two wins, four draws and 14 defeats from 20 matches has left the Canaries bottom of the table on 10 points, but they are only three points behind 17th-placed Watford, who have two games in hand.
Norwich, who beat Charlton Athletic 1-0 in the FA Cup last weekend, showed improvement in the early stages of Dean Smith’s tenure, but a difficult December has kept the club in the relegation zone.
The Canaries have a huge game away to Watford on January 21, and there is a danger that the matches will start to run out for the strugglers, particularly as they have played 20 times in the Premier League this season, with each of the six teams above them having at least one match in hand.
Norwich have won two of their last four Premier League matches against Everton but have lost the last two, including a 2-0 defeat in the reverse game at Goodison Park back in September.
Everton made such a strong start to the 2021-22 campaign that there were suggestions Rafael Benitez could lead the team to a top-six finish in the Premier League this season.
The Toffees have since fallen down the table, though, with a record of 19 points from 18 matches leaving them in 15th position, just eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Everton managed to record a 3-2 win over Hull City in the third round of the FA Cup last weekend but lost their last Premier League match by the same scoreline at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Merseyside giants have not actually been victorious in England’s top flight since the 2-1 win over Arsenal at the start of December, but they will be the favourites to triumph this weekend and managed to record a 1-0 victory on their last visit to Carrow Road in the league in November 2019.
Benitez’s side will certainly be hoping for an FA Cup run this season, but the league is once again the priority, and they are still capable of claiming a top-half finish despite their struggles in recent weeks.
Norwich City possible XI: Krul, Aarons, Kabak, Hanley, Giannoulis, Sorensen, McLean, Sargent, Idah, Rashica, Pukki.
Everton possible XI: Pickford, Holgate, Keane, Godfrey, Coleman, Allan, Doucoure, Mykolenko, Gordon, Calvert-Lewin, Gray.
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