Last season Norwich won their second ever English Championship title, which earned them a place in the elite championship, where the team returned just a year after relegation. The Canaries had a successful start in the League Cup, where at the first stage the yellow-greens smashed Bournemouth to smithereens (6:0), but already at the second stage everything fell into place. The 1/16 finals of the trophy were brought to the rivals by Liverpool, which did not leave any chances to the representatives of Norfolk. In the Premier League championship, the “yellow-greens” failed the start of the tournament, which already in November led to a change of coach. On November 15th, the 50-year-old Dean Smith came to the post of mentor, who was entrusted with the right to correct the sad situation. Today’s hosts chalked up two victories and four peaceful outcomes in over 17 rounds, which corresponded to 10 points and the last position in the table. The team’s weakest link is the attack line, which has only been distinguished eight times. In the last three rounds Norwich lost in turn to Tottenham (0:3), Manchester United (0:1) and Aston Villa (0:2). Today Omobamidele, Rashitsa, Hanley, Zimmermann and Normann, who has a stretch, will not be able to enter the field. Tsolis, Sarjet, Rupp and Lees-Melo are still in isolation.
The fifth team of the past season and the winner of the FA Cup opened the season with a victory in the Super Cup, where they defeated today’s opponent. Unfortunately, the team did not show interest in the championship at the start, which affected the standings of the Leicestershire representatives. After 16 rounds of the current championship, the “blues” chalked up six victories and four peaceful outcomes, which corresponded to 22 points and the ninth position in the standings. It should be noted the performance indicators of the attack, which scored 27 times, while the guests conceded exactly the same amount. In December Brendan Rogers’ charges drew with Southampton (2:2), lost to Aston Villa (1:2) and in the last round at home easily beat Newcastle (4:0). The group stage in the Europa League passed uncertainly for the team, where the foxes won two wins and draws in six rounds, which brought them only eight points and the third position. The guests go to the playoffs of the new tournament from UEFA. Evans, Justin, Fovana, Vardi, Pereira and Senju, who has a thigh injury, will not be able to play today.
