Leeds and Norwich are two of the fiercest rivals in the Championship. Both clubs aim to secure top-half finishes and secure promotion to the Premier League.
Johannes Thorup’s Norwich City side have struggled against their northern rivals recently, losing five out of their last six matches – though unbeaten in three home matches so far.
In this article, we will discuss the main points or high lights of norwich city vs leeds united lineups.
Norwich City XI vs Leeds United
Norwich are striving to reach the Championship playoffs, yet will be without five players who will not be available due to injury or suspension – Onel Hernandez, Liam Gibbs, Christian Fassnacht, Jakob Sorensen and Ashley Barnes will not feature due to being unavailable due to injury or suspension. Norwich manager Alan Thorup may opt to change up his starting eleven given their recent impressive performances.
Leeds are fresh from a home victory against Coventry City and promotion specialist Daniel Farke will hope that his side can build upon their undefeated home record over their last four games – something which they are expected to do as part of a challenge for automatic promotion from League 2.
Both teams remain unchanged from their prior matches but Leeds should be stronger than they were against Sky Blues. Leeds has shown great defensive capabilities so far this season while scoring goals when necessary.
The Whites edged out Norwich at Elland Road last season and will look to repeat that performance tonight in front of their own supporters at Elland Road. Their away record against Norwich this season has been strong; so it will be interesting to see how well they fare tonight in front of Elland Road crowd.
Meslier; Byram, Rodon, Ampadu (C), Firpo; Kamara & Gruev; Gnonto Gray Summerville Rutter
Norwich City XI vs Derby County
Norwich’s impressive victory against Watford last week raised their fans’ expectations of this term’s canaries, and could pay dividends when Leeds arrive at Carrow Road on Tuesday evening. Leeds currently enjoy an unbeaten five-match run and possess a formidable defense, both indicators that they may well make the promotion push in 2019.
However, Norwich also possesses plenty of attacking quality and should prove difficult for their opponents to beat. Their most recent home victory featured Borja Sainz scoring two braces while on the road their form has been impressive with back-to-back clean sheets in the Championship.
Norwich have made an encouraging start under new manager Johannes Hoff Thorup since replacing David Wagner in early May. Norwich finished sixth in the Championship last season and have an outside chance at making this year’s playoffs, though their first meeting against Leeds since February proved unsuccessful; losing five out of their six meetings while drawing two and being defeated 4-0 in one semi-final clash.
Paul Warne will look to break Derby’s undefeated home record this weekend, yet the Rams are facing injury concerns in their backline. Full-back Callum Elder may miss due to groin pain while fellow defender David Ozoh remains unavailable due to hamstring strain. Meanwhile, striker Tawanda Chirewa should return after suffering concussion against Sheffield United last weekend.
Thorup has decided to stick with the team that beat Coventry City 1-0 during his debut home game at Norwich City, opting not to include Anis Ben Slimane for his debut and choosing instead to include Kaide Gordon, Gabriel Forsyth and Brad Hills who all impressed against Coventry as starters on his bench.
As for their visitors, Daniel Farke should keep faith with his same starting lineup. The German has been impressed by the defensive strength of his squad; with full-back Sam Byram having returned from knee injury training – likely starting right-back alongside full-back Mark Hudson (recovered from surgery on 11/12/2017).
Norwich City XI vs Coventry City
Norwich Canaries took their inaugural victory under head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup with a 1-0 triumph against Coventry City at the CBS Arena, as Borja Sainz netted the only goal. Norwich ended a 10-match run without defeating Mark Robins’ team with this result.
Coventry City began the game firmly in control but were unable to breach Scotland goalkeeper Angus Gunn. Jack Rudoni was denied by Shane Duffy before Ellis Simms saw his shot deflect wide before Gunn was forced into action to save with his feet from Marcelino Nunez corner before having a header disallowed by Gunn.
Leeds received a much-needed lift when Largie Ramazani found space on the right wing and scored with his low left-footed strike from outside of the box into the bottom corner. That goal gave them renewed purpose to continue pressing forward.
Late on, a late corner from the hosts was cleared off the line, while Gunn made another excellent save to deny Jayden Bogle a goal. Substitutes Patrick Bamford, Sam Byram and Joel Piroe entered as Patrick tried to find an opening through the visitors’ defences.
Coventry manager Mark Robins may make changes following their 4-0 loss at Premier League Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup second round on Tuesday night. Midfielders Daniel James, Maximilian Wober and Manor Solomon may miss the remainder of this season with knee injuries while Haji Wright and Joseph could make returns after appearing off the bench against Carabao Cup opponents.
Norwich City are likely to deploy Jonathan Rowe and Christoph Zimmermann as central defenders, with Gabriel Sara acting as number 10. Haji Wright and Joseph may play supporting roles as they try to score goals and take an advantage into the second leg.
Norwich City XI vs Swansea City
The Canaries have made an impressive start to their season and will look to carry that momentum into this home game against Norwich City. Unfortunately, however, due to injury and suspension they will be without several first team players such as Onel Hernandez, Liam Gibbs Christian Fassnacht Jakob Sorensen who will all miss out in his place; forward Josh Sargent will lead their line as they return.
Daniel Farke will likely field a similar side against Coventry City as against Leeds United on Tuesday. There may be one adjustment in midfield however due to Ethan Ampadu being out due to a lateral collateral knee ligament injury and set to miss 10 weeks of Championship action, leading Ilia Gruev back into his deep-six role and Joe Rothwell into more of a winger’s position.
Swansea City have begun the season strongly, earning four points from their opening two matches and beating both Preston North End and Cardiff City at home to take four from four points available to them. Their performances against Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion left narrow losses but their strong home form has left fans optimistic for what the rest of season may hold in store for them.
Michael Duff will look to build on their strong start against Norwich with a win against them on Sunday, keeping their defensive solidity intact against Norwich and celebrating defender Jerry Yates returning from leg injury sustained against Millwall on Saturday. Carl Rushworth, Josh Key, Ben Cabango, Harry Darling and Bashir Humphreys will complete his backline.
Norwich will need to be wary of Leeds’ attacking power this season; as they’ve already scored 14 goals already. To counter the Leeds threat, Norwich have announced Oscar Schwartau as Ante Crnac’s replacement in their starting XI for his competitive debut and has made an impressionful second-half run with impressive skill in recent games for Norwich. Newcomer Kaide Gordon will sit on the bench.
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