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Arsenal will travel to Norwich City on Sunday hoping to keep up with their title rivals. Last weekend’s loss away to West Bromwich Albion may have woken up their critics, but Arsene Wenger will hope his side can post a win and bounce back. Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez were in top form as the Gunners beat Dinamo Zagreb at home on Tuesday and they can prove to be too much for a Norwich team that has endured a very difficult past two months.
However, the defeat to West Bromwich last week may not be critical to their title challenge but it represented a disappointing start to a winnable run of fixtures for Arsene Wenger’s side. He will expect to claim a first league win in November at the third time of asking.
The worrying factor still remains at the heart of the Arsenal midfield, where they have been cut short to only two proper players in Mathieu Flamini and Santi Cazorla, but Calum Chambers can also fit in. Wenger’s choice is yet to be seen.
Arsenal need to find a winning formula, and fast. With the potentially decisive visit of Manchester City less than a month away for the Gunners, they will want to be well-placed to enter the game with confidence. That starts with a win against Norwich, but it won’t be easy.
Let’s look ahead to all the information you need to know about Arsenal’s trip to Norwich:
Kickoff and Live Telecast
Channel: StarSports HD1
Live Stream: starsports.com
Date and Time: Sunday, 29th November 2015 – 16:15 GMT (21:45 IST)
Venue: Carrow Road, Norwich.
Team News
Norwich City
The hosts will still be without Alex Tettey, who had suffered a groin injury. Meanwhile, the Canaries will be boosted by the return of skipper Russell Martin following his late withdrawal against Chelsea last weekend. Matt Jarvis is another of the fitness concerns for Norwich as he is unlikely to play a part while out-of-favour Kyle Lafferty is expected to be among the substitutes after shaking off a groin injury picked up for the Under-21s side.
The only other big decision for Alex Neil will be at the top, where Dieumerci Mbokani, who has been involved in three of City's last five goals, will be vying it out with Cameron Jerome for a starting berth against the Gunners.
Arsenal
Aaron Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain are both back in contention for Arsenal after having missed some crunch games. Ramsey made a decent return to action in the midweek Champions League triumph, completing 23 of his 24 passes after being introduced.
The obvious man to take off would have been Joel Campbell, but the Costa Rica international turned in one of his most impressive performances, the best highlight being his defence-splitting pass for the third goal which saw Ramsey instead shoved out on the left.
Wenger will have to decide whether to reshuffle his side for the trip to Carrow Road or instead give Ramsey, who has been a scorer in both of his meetings with the Canaries, a chance to slowly make his return to league action from the bench. The Gunners, though, remain without long-term absentees Mikel Arteta, Francis Coquelin, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky and Danny Welbeck.
Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud both suffered injuries in the victory over Dinamo Zagreb though neither are expected to be rested for the Norwich match.
Probable lineups
Norwich City (4-1-4-1): Ruddy; Wisdom, Martin, Bassong, Olsson; Mulumbu; Redmond, Howson, O’Neil, Brady; Mbokani.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) : Cech; Monreal, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Bellerin; Cazorla, Flamini; Sanchez, Ozil, Campbell; Giroud.
Form
Norwich City
Norwich City have endured a tough couple of recent months. The Canaries had a solid September in which they went unbeaten, but recent months have been far tougher for Alex Neil’s men, who have struggled with the fallout on their 6-2 humbling at the hands of Newcastle in mid-October.
Since then only a win against Swansea has added to their points tally as they have slipped towards the relegation zone. Four losses out of the recent five matches has seen Norwich slip to 16th in the points table. Though, there were positives to be drawn from a 1-0 defeat to Chelsea but the Canaries now find themselves looking over their shoulder, sitting just three points above the relegation zone.
Last 5 games: L-L-L-W-L (Last match: Chelsea 1-0 Norwich City)
Arsenal:
Arsenal picked up their first win of the month at the Emirates on Tuesday, comfortably beating a limited Dinamo Zagreb side thanks to magnificent efforts from midfielders, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez. The midweek win followed a disappointing run of form for Wenger’s men, whose loss to West Brom saw them blow a great opportunity to move to the top of the table, where they also lost Francis Coquelin and Mikel Arteta in the process.
Arsenal have not been in the best of form in their last five games. They have won only two games (against Swansea City and Dinamo Zagreb), drawn one (against Tottenham) and lost two (against Bayern Munich and West Bromwich Albion). Arsenal’s last visit to Norwich in May of last year saw them come away with a comfortable 2-0 victory, Aaron Ramsey and Carl Jenkinson claiming the goals for the Gunners.
Last 5 games: W-L-D-L-W (Last match: Arsenal 3-0 Dinamo Zagreb)
Key Stats
- Arsenal have scored at least two goals in seven of their last eight matches against Norwich.
- Norwich have won only one of their last 13 Premier League meetings with Arsenal, losing seven of the games during that run.
- Ten of the last 11 goals scored by the Gunners in this fixture have come in the second half of matches.
- The Canaries' last victory over Arsenal came in October 2012, when Grant Holt struck inside the opening 19 minutes.
- Arsenal have won seven of the last nine Premier League meetings, drawing and losing one each.
- The Canaries have only won two of the last 26 meetings in all competitions (D10, L14).
- Norwich have only kept one clean sheet in their 13 league games.
- The Gunners have won 10 of their last 13 Premier League away games (D1, L2).
- Arsenal - and Leicester City - are the Premier League's joint top-scorers away from home with 15 goals.
- Under Arsene Wenger, November is Arsenal's worst month where they average only 1.6 points per game.
Key Battles
Alexis Sanchez vs Andre Wisdom
A battle for the neutral spectators, Arsenal’s Sanchez and Norwich’s Wisdom will go head to head in front of the Norwich goal on Sunday. Alexis Sanchez has been in a tremendous vein of form, but consistent traveling must have taken a toll on the Chilean.
However, with Arsenal playing weaker teams before they face Manchester City in December, Wenger will use Sanchez to kill off games. Sanchez scored two goals in Arsenal’s 3-0 victory against Dinamo Zagreb.
The Chilean will be up against Andre Wisdom, who was one of the better players for the Canaries in last weekend’s game at Chelsea. Sanchez’s speed and agility have put the Premier League defenders in bits and pieces, no defender has been able to stop his runs. Wisdom will hope that the fatigue factor hits Sanchez when the two face off on Sunday.
It will be interesting to see how Wisdom will cope with the presence of Sanchez in the wide area. The battle should decide who will come out on top on the night.
Mesut Özil vs Youssouf Mulumbu
The German playmaker has been in impressive form, with seven assists and two goals in his last eight games in all competitions. Ozil will look to carry on his on-going assist record and will vie to take the tally to 8 consecutive Premier League games where he has had an assist, We can expect to see him in the free role where he plays down the middle, right and left. Ozil can add to Norwich’s misery as the Canaries host the World Cup winner.
However. Youssouf Mulumbu will be assigned the duty to stop the German from creating goalscoring opportunities. Mulumbu, who plays in the central defensive role for the Canaries, will be assigned the duty of marking Ozil. But Ozil’s tendency to drift away left and right might create problems for the Norwich midfield and defense.
The away-looking passes that are executed by Ozil have been the standout. Whether or not Norwich can manage anything from this game will depend on Mulumbu’s ability to stop the German.
Prediction
After winning comfortably against a Dinamo Zagreb side in midweek, Arsenal will be favorites to beat Norwich at Carrow Road. It will be a typical Arsenal game, with them ending up with most possession. It will be difficult for Norwich to keep out the likes of Giroud, Sanchez and Ozil.
With Cazorla’s majestic playmaking, the Gunners can be expected to win comfortably even though it’s an away trip. But Arsenal have been good away from home. We are expecting goals from the Gunners – three of them. With Giroud, Cazorla and Sanchez scoring for the away side. Be aware Norwich City!
Predicted score: Norwich City 0-3 Arsenal
Betting odds (bet365)
Arsenal – 13/20
Draw – 16/5
Norwich – 9/2
