Norwich City host Arsenal at Carrow Road on Sunday (2pm KO) in the visitors' first Premier League game since Unai Emery was sacked from his position as manager of the Gunners.
Our Match Preview includes insight from a local journalist to discuss the opposition in detail, an overview of this fixture’s history, and a look at who will be the man in the middle.
There are also details for Arsenal fans travelling to Norwich, including security information, as well as a guide on how to follow the action for those who aren’t at the ground.
The opposition
Freddie Ljungberg will takeover from Emery as interim head coach, starting with this weekend’s game in Norfolk.
The Gunners currently find themselves eight points adrift of the top four in the Premier League, having failed to win any of their last five games in the topflight.
Arsenal started the season respectably as far as results are concerned, picking up points where they’d expect to in the first eight games, other than a draw to Watford away. However, since then, Emery’s side lost two away games to Sheffield United and Leicester City, and drew three matches at home to Crystal Palace, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton.
Midweek Europa League defeat at home to Frankfurt was the final nail in the coffin for Emery at Arsenal, who was sacked by the club on Friday morning.
For a more detailed look at the Gunners, read our Ask the Expert interview with The Athletic’s James McNicholas by clicking here.
Head-to-head
History doesn’t flatter Norwich City as far as this fixture is concerned. Of the 58 meetings between the two sides since 1952, City have won 11, drawn 19 and lost 28.
However, City’s best results against the Gunners in recent history have come at Carrow Road, with 2015’s 1-1 draw the only point to celebrate since 2012’s 1-0 win over Arsene Wenger’s side.
Last time they met, Arsenal emerged with a 2-1 win in the Carabao Cup in 2017 as Josh Murphy’s opener was cancelled out by an Eddie Nketiah brace at the Emirates Stadium.
Ref watch
Paul Tierney will be the man in the middle for Sunday’s fixture. Tierney has overseen ten Premier League games, one Championship game, one Europa League game and one EFL Cup game so far this season, handing out 42 yellow cards across those matches. Tierney is yet to show his first red card this season.
He was last appointed to officiate a Norwich game for our 2-0 defeat at West Ham United in August, when he handed out just three yellow cards.
For this weekend’s fixture, his assistants will be Constantine Hatzidakis and Harry Lennard, with Gavin Ward the fourth official. Michael Oliver and Neil Davies will be overseeing VAR.
Info for supporters
The Junior Canaries Family FanZone will open at 11.30am and close at 1.30pm ahead of Sunday’s game.
For fans seated in blocks C and D of the Barclay Stand, a large “Pride of Anglia” banner will be held up over said areas as the players walk out of the tunnel (1.54pm approx).
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 Sunday’s #NR1Live, Darren Eadie will be joined in the studio by Academy manager Steve Weaver and Jeremy Goss. The show starts at 1.30pm 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.
Canary fans can also sign up to the Norwich City WhatsApp group to receive the starting line-up ahead of the game sent straight to your phone, as well as the half-time and full-time score and game highlights. Click HERE to sign up.
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