A look ahead to Saturday's 3pm kick-off at Fulham
THE 2012-13 Barclays Premier League season kicks off for the Canaries with an away trip to Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday in Chris Hughton's first competitive match in charge of Norwich City.With five new faces in his squad and an excellent pre-season behind them, Hughton’s squad are in good shape going into the clash against Martin Jol’s Fulham, who themselves have undergone significant changes of personnel over the summer.
Kick-off will be at 3pm, and you can listen live to all the action with Canaries Player, as well as following live updates on Canaries.co.uk, and our official twitter and facebook pages.
Watch Chris Hughton's pre-match press conference on Canaries Player by clicking here.
Watch Ryan Bennett's pre-match interview on Canaries Player by clicking here.
City: T
TEAM NEWS:
he Canaries will be without defender Steven Whittaker (ankle) for the opening fixture against Fulham on Saturday, as well as midfield pair David Fox and Jacob Butterfield, who are back in training but unlikely to be available. Wes Hoolahan is also back in training, whilst Elliott Ward is a week away from fitness. It is not yet known whether late addition Javier Garrido will be eligible for the fixture.
Fulham: The Cottagers are likely to be without midfielder Simon Davies for the clash, who is out with a neck injury, while Aaron Hughes (ankle) is thought to be a doubt. Jol has an otherwise fully fit squad to choose from however.
PRE-SEASON:
HK Køge 0-0 Fulham
City
Hertha Berlin 3-2 City
Celtic 0-1 City
Peterborough United 0-2 City
City 1-1 Ajax
MK Dons 0-0 City
Hull City 0-0 City
City 0-2 Borussia Monchengladbach
TRANSFERS:
Ins: George Williams (MK Dons) undisclosed, Mladen Petric (Hamburg) free, Hugo Rodallega (Wigan) free, Sascha Riether (Cologne) loan.
Outs: Marcel Gecov (Gent) undisclosed, Ricahrd Barroilhet (RKC Waalwijk) free, Dickson Etuhu (Blackburn) free, Andrew Johnson (QPR) free, Danny Murphy (Blackburn) free, Pavel Pogrebnyak (Reading) free, Bjorn Helge Riise (Lillestron) free, Orlando Sa (AEL Limassol) free.
City
Ins: Steven Whittaker, Jacob Butterfield (Barnsley) undisclosed, Michael Turner (Sunderland) undisclosed, Robert Snodgrass (Leeds United) undisclosed.
Outs: Andrew Crofts (Brighton) undisclosed, Matt Ball (Stevenage) free, Josh Dawkin (Braintree) free, Adam Drury (Leeds United) free, Zak Whitbread (Leicester) free, Aaron Wilbraham (Crystal Palace) free, Dani Ayala (Nottingham Forest) season-long loan.
MANAGER: MARTIN JOL
The former West Bromwich Albion and Coventry City midfielder also had spells in charge of Roda JC, RKC Waalwijk, Hamburg, and Ajax before being appointed manager of the Cottagers by pwner Mohammed Al-Fayed.
ONE-TO-WATCH: MOUSSA DEMBELE
The 25-year-old Belgium international signed for Fulham in 2010 from Dutch side AZ Alkmaar for a fee believed to be in the region of £5M, and has impressed, scoring five times in over 50 games.
His menacing runs from midfield will be something the City defence will need to keep an eye out for if they are to keep Fulham quiet and pick up a result on the opening day.
HEAD-TO-HEAD:
| Fulham wins | Draw | City wins | |
| League | 14 | 10 | 10 |
| FA Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| League Cup | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 17 | 10 | 11 |
Fulham have the edge over City in terms of all-time wins between the two sides, and came away with all three points in last season’s clash at Craven Cottage – winning 2-1 thanks to goals from Dempsey and Damien Duff. Aaron Wilbraham responded for City.
The last time City secured a victory at Craven Cottage was on New Year’s Day in 1986, thanks to Kevin Drinkell’s goal in the old Division Two.
2011-12 SEASON:Fulham
Premier League – 9th
FA Cup – Fourth round
League Cup – Third round
Europa League – Group stages
Top league scorer – Clint Dempsey (17)
Most league starts – Brede Hangeland (38)
City
Premier League - 12th
FA Cup - Fifth round
League Cup - Third round
Top League Scorer - Grant Holt (15)
Most league starts - John Ruddy (37)
Craven Cottage:
Capacity - 25,700
Click here for directions