The final game to be played in the English Premier League on Saturday the 14th of August is between Norwich City and Liverpool. The match will be played at Carrow Road and the hosts will be hoping to cause a major upset on the first day of the season whereas the visitors will see this as a good opportunity to take maximum points in the pursuit of the title.
Norwich City won promotion from the Championship last season and they finished top of the table following an impressive campaign which saw them lose only 7 of their 46 matches. The Canaries finished 6 points clear of second place Watford and scored an impressive 79 goals during the season.
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏/𝟐𝟐 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞 👊 pic.twitter.com/b6bXytu7in— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 11, 2021
𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏/𝟐𝟐 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞 👊 pic.twitter.com/b6bXytu7in
However, things are not going to be as easy in the Premier League this season and Norwich City lost their final preseason fixture, going down 3-0 against Newcastle United. Newcastle are a team who struggled for much of last season in the Premier League and Norwich City are going to have to up their game if they are going to take anything from this match.
Norwich City last played in the Premier League in 2019/20 and ended the campaign with a disappointing run of defeats at home. They lost their final 5 games of the season against Southampton, Everton, Brighton, West Ham United, and Burnley. Norwich City failed to score a single goal in those 5 matches.
Liverpool come into the game having enjoyed a good preseason and won their final friendly match, beating Osasuna 3-1. Roberto Firmino was back in the team following the Copa America in the summer and helped himself to two goals in the game.
This is a big season for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool, who have Virgil van Dijk back to full fitness plus both Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah had a full preseason, which is good news for the club.
Liverpool finished last season strongly and the run of 5 straight victories at the end of the campaign was enough to see them finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions league. In fact, Liverpool are undefeated in each of their last 10 Premier League matches and will be hoping to carry that form over into the new season.
Trends show Liverpool are undefeated in 9 of their last 10 away Premier League games and have defeated Norwich City in their last 6 away encounters in the league.
Looking ahead to review team news and Norwich City could hand summer signing Milot Rashica a Premier League debut. However, Todd Cantwell and Grant Hanley are injury doubts and would be a big miss for the hosts.
Liverpool are without full back Andrew Robertson who has an ankle injury, meaning Konstantinos Tsimikas could play at left back. Curtis Jones and Jordan Henderson could also miss out but new signing Ibrahima Konate could make his debut in defence.
Norwich City have had a disrupted preseason due to several positive COVID-19 cases and it will be interesting to see how they line-up. Liverpool come into the game looking strong and we expect to see them come away from this match with all 3 points, in a match with both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals.