Norwich City host Wolverhampton Wanderers at Carrow Road for Saturday’s Premier League game (3pm KO).
Our Match Preview includes a tactical analysis of the opposition from a local journalist, a look at the man in the middle, and important information for fans attending the game or following from afar.
The opposition
For this week’s opposition guide, we spoke to Wolves columnist Ryan Leister to discuss their strengths and weaknesses. Here’s what he had to say…
“Spurs rode their luck against Wolves last week, but it was very Jose Mourinho. He built many a title on defending well, sitting back, tucking in, and taking chances on the counter-attack. The way Wolves played against a Champions League finalist made me so proud.
“Tottenham certainly had some dark arts in trying to stop Adama Traore, who was unplayable. Nine times out of ten, Wolves would have won the game comfortably. That performance level was as good as I’d ever seen from Wolves in the Premier League.
“I’ve been going to watch Wolves since October 1990 and Joao Moutinho is comfortably the best player I’ve ever seen. It’s about getting the basics right. He makes the correct decision every single time, but when there’s an opportunity for a flair moment he can do that as well.
“When teams tuck in against them, that’s when Wolves find it hardest because they’re a counter-attacking side. I’m expecting Norwich to press high, which suits Wolves best.
“Wolves have evolved, because whereas it used to be about very short, sharp triangles, now they’re not afraid to hit a diagonal ball into Raul Jimenez’s feet and feed off him to cut out the midfield.
“If Norwich tuck in, it might be tough, but I don’t expect them to do that. I expect them to be charging up the pitch with Teemu Pukki trying to press our centre-backs."
Head-to-head
In the 59 meetings between the two sides since 1965, Norwich have come out on top in 13, drawn 16, and lost 30 of those matches.
Recent history is more favourable, however, with the Canaries having won five, drawn four and lost just two of the last 11 matches.
Last time out, Nelson Oliveira equalised in stoppage time to secure a 2-2 draw at the Molineux Stadium in February 2018, after Christoph Zimmermann had pulled one back in the first half.
Ref watch
Peter Bankes will oversee the fixture and be assisted by Daniel Cook and Marc Perry. James Linington will be the fourth official. On VAR duties this week are Jonathon Moss and Peter Kirkup.
Bankes has overseen 12 games this season – four in the Premier League, seven in the Championship, and one in the Carabao Cup, handing out 53 yellow cards and one red card across those fixtures.
His last Norwich match was our Championship finale at Villa Park, when a 2-1 win saw us lift the league title.
Info for home and away supporters
Soul Church Norwich will be singing on the pitch ahead of kick-off, with Community Hero and Soul Church volunteeer Vanessa Thomson collecting donations for their project on tackling food poverty.
Vanessa’s volunteering efforts means she makes the shuttleruns between food outlets and families seven days a week, and on Saturday she'll be outisde the club shop at 2.30pm and going around the ground via the Wensum Corner.
We have a guide for all supporters heading to Carrow Road. It has lots of information about getting to Carrow Road, prohibited items, stadium opening times and much more. Click here to view it.
Away fans now have a dedicated venue to attend prior to the match kicking off. The Waterfront, situated on King Street, has a beer garden with a licensed bar offering a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and food vendors.
Please note that the majority of kiosks in the stadium this season have contactless-only tills. In the away end, the left-hand lanes of kiosks are contactless-only.
How to follow
For Saturday’s #NR1Live, Darren Eadie will be joined in the studio by talkSPORT presenter Jake Watson and Head of Academy Sports Science, Jay Eastoe-Smith. The show starts at 2.30pm and fans can subscribe here.
We will be running regular updates on our Twitter account, including reaction after the final whistle.
There will also be a minute-by-minute live match blog on canaries.co.uk and you can also receive updates on our Instagram and Facebook pages.
