After thrashing Newcastle United last weekend, Norwich welcome a winless Chelsea to Carrow Road as Frank Lampard continues his search for that first win as the Blues’ manager.
Victory could temporarily at least place Norwich third whilst Chelsea will move closer to midtable with all three points.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesDaniel Farke could hand Ibrahim Amadou his first start for Norwich after being slowly eased into the club in recent weeks, having signed on loan from Sevilla.
Jamal Lewis (thigh), Adam Idah (back), and Timm Klose (hip) are all expected to feature if pass late fitness tests, but Josip Drmic (thigh) and Christoph Zimmerman (knee) are thought to be one week away from full fitness.
Onel Hernandez is the Canaries’ only absentee as he recovers from knee surgery.
Chelsea could have Antonio Rudiger available after the defender participated in an open training session in midweek, having recovered from a knee injury picked up at the end of last season.
Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek remain sidelined with Achilles injuries, whilst Reece James (ankle) and Marco van Ginkel (knee) are also ruled out.
Form
After losing their opener at Liverpool a fortnight ago, Norwich beat Newcastle last time out at home as Teemu Pukki scored a hat-trick.
Chelsea meanwhile have drawn their last two matches in all competitions since losing their opener 4-0 at Manchester United.
Stat Attack
- Norwich have avoided defeat in just three of their last 14 meetings with Chelsea in all competitions (D3, L11).
- In their last five league meetings, the Canaries only took one point out of a possible 15 (D1, L4).
- Both teams have scored in two of their last three meetings in all competitions.
- Teemu Pukki is currently the Golden Boot leader with four goals from his opening two games, and also leads the shots statistics with 10 shots.
- Anything less than victory will see Frank Lampard become the second Chelsea manager this century to fail to win any of his three opening league games, joining an exclusive club currently containing just Rafa Benitez who drew two and lost one of his opening three league games as interim Blues manager in late 2012.
Prediction
I am expecting an entertaining match between two attacking teams here because the Norwich of last week was much stronger than the team that got trashed in their opener at Liverpool.
Chelsea however do play with great energy and can pressurise the backlines, which will be key as to who wins this encounter although I have a feeling that we are in for a draw given how similar both teams play.
Prediction: Norwich City 1-1 Chelsea
Result: Norwich City 2-3 Chelsea