Norwich City returns to the Premier League after spending one season in the Championship, earning their second Championship title in three years, sandwiching a relegation season in the Premier League.
Coincidentally, LFC also opened the 2019-20 league-winning campaign against Norwich City (that one was at Anfield).
Norwich returns with many of the same group that were relegated two seasons ago. This includes Finnish striker Teemu Pukki, who has a great knack for both finding space and finishing. Sprightly winger Todd Cantwell also returns, though there are rumors that he could be leaving before the transfer window closes. However, this summer Norwich did lose one of their best players, Emil Buendia, who was bought by Aston Villa as a replacement for Jack Grealish.
At least one opposing manager last season dubbed Norwich City “the Manchester City of the Championship.” This was probably reasonably accurate. Norwich City pressed their opposition relentlessly, retained possession with intricate short passes, and created by far the most xG in the league last year. Norwich played a huge number of successful through passes, which led to far more clear-cut scoring opportunities than any other team.
Given that LFC will play an aggressive high line, and Norwich are highly-skilled at playing through passes, it’s likely that Norwich City will get behind LFC’s defense on occasion Saturday. But, with Norwich pressing themselves, we could be looking at another high scoreline similar to the five goal match that opened the 2019-20 season (won by LFC 4-1). Hopefully, LFC will again be on the high side of that scoreline.
Who will play for LFC?
This question always intrigues me, and is arguably more difficult to predict before the first game than virtually any other time. But, during this preseason, I believe Klopp has given us strong hints as to who will start the opener. Throughout the preseason matches, Klopp has platooned the team into two groups: a first-team and a second-team. To be sure, some of the so-called “second teams” have been peppered with recently-returning first-teamers who are not yet match fit. For example, both Henderson and Thiago, who have only recently reported to the team, both saw action off the bench for the “second team” on Monday. Both of them, however, will start for LFC more often than not when they are fit and healthy. Conversely, a few of the players who have been in the “first team” throughout preseason will see themselves benched at or soon after the start of the season, as others gain fitness.
As you probably know, in Sunday’s friendly against Athletic Bilbao, Andy Robertson sprained his ankle. His scan yesterday revealed that he will be out for “weeks, rather than months.” I believe this means that he suffered either a Grade 1 or Grade 2 sprain, and he will be back in action sometime within the next eight weeks (and perhaps much sooner). The good news is that Kostas Tsimikas looks very ready for action. Last season, Tsimikas saw almost zero playing time. This was due to a combination of factors: 1) Robertson was fit all season; 2) The injury debacle among the CBs made Klopp unwilling to experiment with additional new players in the back line, unless he was forced to do so; 3) Tsimikas had several injury problems of his own; and 4) Tsimikas was just learning a new system.
This preseason, Tsimikas has done a quite compelling impression of Robbo himself. Tsimikas finished the preseason with three assists. In my opinion, we actually won’t lose too much on the offensive end with Tsimikas. His dribbling, running, pressing, and crossing appear to be at or near the incredibly high levels to which we are accustomed from Robertson. Defensively, Tsimikas is likely to be less reliable. I think his positioning and tackling skills need work. But, he appears to be competent on those fronts, and not as error-prone as other LBs we have watched play for LFC (we see you, Alberto)!
In both of the last two preseason matches that involved the “first team,” Klopp started the same back line:
Alisson
Trent Matip VVD Robbo
I expect the same starters in defense on Saturday, except that Tsimikas will play in Robbo’s stead. Long-term, I expect a bit of shuffling among the center backs, even if all four of them stay healthy. For now, I think Matip has demonstrated better match fitness and sharpness than Gomez, while Konaté is still settling into the system. Both JoGo and Ibou have looked quite good, however. I believe they are both better-suited to start beside VVD in the long-run than Matip is. But we will see.
In attack, the only question in the forward line is whether Diogo Jota or Roberto Firmino will start. Nonetheless, Jota has started with the first team in both of the last two preseason matches, because Firmino only recently returned to training after playing internationally with Brazil in the Copa America. Thus, despite the fact that Firmino looked very sharp in his last match, and scored twice, I expect Jota to start against Norwich. And, by the way, Jota scored in his last preseason match as well. Thus, the forward line against Norwich City is likely to be:
Salah Jota Mané
As usual, the most difficult starting group to predict is the midfield. Here again, Klopp’s preseason lineups give us some strong hints. In both of the last two preseason matches, the midfield that started with the first-team group was Milner, Elliott, and Keïta. Despite this, I would be somewhat shocked if all three of those players started against Norwich City. First, although he only returned from international competition relatively recently, Fabinho played significant minutes for the “second team” in both of the last two preseason matches. He looked great in both games. Given what happened when Klopp left Fabinho out of the midfield last season, I expect him to start on Saturday. Second, Harvey Elliott is only 18 years old, and he’s played as a forward throughout his young career. Third, James Milner is just too slow to play significant minutes as a solo defensive midfielder in a Premier League match. Klopp has never started Milner at that position before, and he’s not likely to do it Saturday. Arguably, Keïta could fill that defensive midfield role, but Klopp has never asked Naby to play that position either. I believe Klopp will (and should) go with his Fabinho security blanket in the defensive midfield.
Among our other likely candidates, neither Curtis Jones nor Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain ever played with the first team group during preseason. Henderson and Thiago, as noted above, are not yet match fit, although they are both now apparently free of any injury concerns.
I’ll be very surprised if both Fabinho and Keïta don’t start, and Milner is the most likely third man to join them. However, it wouldn’t shock me if Klopp started Elliott over Milner — the kid has been great.
So, I expect the following:
My prediction:
Norwich City 1 LFC 3
