Match Preview: Norwich City vs Liverpool

Luis Suarez

As we proceed to Week no. 35 in the Barclays Premier League, the title race seems continue till the last game of the season! League leaders Liverpool visit Carrow Road this Sunday, for another 3 points, in order to secure their hands on the title. Liverpool who won their last game against Manchester City at Anfield, got an inch closer to the title as City are one of the biggest contenders for it, along with Chelsea. It was all emotional at Anfield last week, because of the 25^th anniversary of the Hillsborough Disaster, and Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard, who was all tears after the game, dedicated this victory to the 96 angels.

Liverpool will be confident as they take on Norwich City, as their last game against Norwich on Dec. 5 2013 at Anfield ended up in 5-1 destruction of the Canaries! Liverpool spearhead Luis Suarez scored 4 spectacular goals in that fixture, and he will be looking to repeat his performance on coming Sunday! Daniel Sturridge who went limping out of the last game, due to a hamstring strain, is supposedly available, but mostly will be rested for the last 3 crucial fixtures! The Engine, Jordan Henderson will miss the next 3 games, on account of the straight red card, he received for a lunge on Nasri in their last game.

Liverpool Boss, Brendan Rodgers has made it clear, it will be one game at a time for Liverpool, as the title race is still wide open. If Liverpool wins this fixture against Norwich, they confirm their Champions League spot, which was their actual target at the beginning of the season! At the pre-Norwich press conference, Brendan Rodgers stated: “I felt for Chris Hughton. It’s a difficult job. The objective for Norwich is stay in the league and he was well on his way to doing that. They’ve changed the shape of the team; they played a diamond (midfield) last week. They’ll see it as a game they really have to win. We won’t underestimate them. We know they’re a threat.”

Norwich City, who is currently placed 17^th in the table (just above the relegation zone) with 32 points, will try to make life hard for Liverpool as they host them this weekend in order to confirm their survival in the EPL. Norwich will be backed by their supporters as they proceed towards their toughest last 4 fixtures, which would be Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. Norwich who lost their last game away against Fulham, 1-0 will be trying to comeback from this defeat, against Liverpool, as Fulham and Cardiff City lurk just beneath them in the table with 30 and 29 points respectively. It will be tough for Norwich as their coming fixtures will be very difficult.

Neil Adams, the manager of Norwich will try their best to ensure survival in the EPL. Neil Adams who stated that the defeat against Fulham won’t decide their fate said: “I don’t have a points target. Ofcourse we will factor in other results and most people will have an opinion on it but we can’t afford to do that. We have four massive games against top class oppositions and we know 32 points won’t be enough. I am pretty sure of that. These last four are going to be very tough and people may feel we have the most difficult run-in of the lot but we are confident with the same effort and approach we showed (at Fulham) we will pick up points. It is a huge advantage to be out of the bottom three. There is pressure on Fulham to get out of it, but we know how perilously close we are. We cannot hide away from that fact. There are a lot of teams in it and results will change the context from week to week now.”

There is no doubt that the game, the Canaries against the Reds will be a cracking encounter, with one team fighting for the title and the other for their survival!