Norwich manager Daniel Farke has confirmed that Christoph Zimmermann will miss Friday’s clash with Leicester at Carrow Road.
Zimmermann was a doubt heading into the match, but Farke has now revealed that he is 100% out with the hamstring injury which also caused him to miss last weekend’s 3-0 defeat to Wolves.
Speaking to The Athletic’s Michael Bailey, Farke said that Zimmermann has a chance of returning against Spurs, but confirmed that he will be out for the Leicester game.
Twitter: Christoph Zimmermann’s hamstring is improving. Could make the #FACup tie at Spurs – but out for Leicester.
#NCFC #NORLEI (@michaeljbailey)
This could be a massive blow to Norwich as Grant Hanley and Ben Godfrey’s record together as a centre-back partnership isn’t the best.
With Zimmermann out, Godfrey and Hanley are Norwich’s only two centre-backs, which means that they will likely start together again against the Foxes.
In the four Premier League games that Hanley and Godfrey have started together this season, they have conceded an astonishing 11 goals. This includes defeats to Liverpool, Chelsea and Wolves, along with a win over Newcastle. Meanwhile, Norwich have only conceded more than two goals in the same game once in Zimmermann’s 15 appearances.
Godfrey and Hanley now need to step up and show that they have what it takes as a pairing to produce good performances in the Premier League.
As of right now, they have proved anything but – as shown by the abysmal defensive record when playing together.
This is why Zimmermann being out could be a huge blow for Norwich, one that should give Leicester plenty of reasons to be hopeful ahead of Friday night’s big encounter.
