Norwich head to the King Power Stadium for Saturday’s 3 pm fixture against Leicester City, with the Foxes looking to get back on track to making club history, whilst Alex Neil will be hoping his team’s seven-match winless streak will take a change in direction against the Premier League leaders.
The Canaries come off the back of their first draw in 11 matches, with their last being against Everton on December 12, 2015. Before that, City failed to pick up any point in six consecutive games. Their draw against West Ham will once again be remembered for losing a lead, with Robbie Brady’s goal just after half time and Wes Hoolahan’s 11 minutes later counteracted by two very goals in the space of two minutes from the feet of Dimitri Payet and Mark Noble.
Neil made three changes to the team who failed to win against struggling Aston Villa, with John Ruddy, Nathan Redmond and Cameron Jerome added into the fray.
However, the game against the Hammers will be distant in some minds with the Canaries flying out to Abu Dhabi during their two week break for warm weather training, with the Mirror reporting last week of a crisis meeting held at Dunston Hall Hotel, where a “three hour inquest and team meeting” took place, before the West Ham game.
The Foxes come off the back of a defeat against Arsenal, after victories against both Manchester City and Liverpool, with Jamie Vardy’s 45th minute penalty later a consolation prize from the Gunners and Theo Walcott scored Arsenal’s first shot on target after coming on as a substitute and Danny Welbeck also making an entrance as a super sub through 95th minute winner to close the gap.
Manager Claudio Ranieri will have one name missing from selection when it comes to Saturday, with Danny Simpson receiving two yellows and on the wrong end of Martin Atkinson’s red card. Ranieri may also have Jeffrey Schlupp and Daniel Amartey as options for the Foxes, with Jamie Vardy expected to be fit to test City’s defence. In comparison, Alex Neil will welcome Alex Tettey back from a two-match suspension after collecting his 10th yellow of the season against Tottenham, with only Andre Wisdom set to miss out due to a knee injury.
The long-serving fans and players among the City faithful will be hoping to witness a season similar to that of the 2010/11 season – the last time the Canaries were able to defeat the Leicestershire side – where two goal-thrilling matches saw the Norfolk team win 3-2 away and 4-3 at home, with a rather familiar name in Wes Hoolahan on the goal sheet both games. In fact, Hoolahan’s name also pops up in City’s 2-1 defeat in the FA Cup fifth round in 2011/12 season, where the Foxes denied the Canaries a game in the quarterfinals. When it comes to this season, City’s 2-1 defeat at NR1 through a Vardy penalty and Schlupp goal will be wished against – although, a Dieumerci Mbokani goal will be welcomed at any time.
With Leicester City competing to gather momentum to their ground-breaking seven-month campaign after a slight pause against Arsenal, much talk will be about those wearing blue. However, with the Canaries fresh from a warm weather training camp, a new gear may have been started when it comes to those wearing yellow.
