Venue: Carrow Road
Date: 12/12/2015
Kick-off: 12:45 (BST)
Match
Everton travel to Carrow Road to square off against Norwich City on Saturday and the Toffees will be hopeful of continuing their fine unbeaten run during the clash.
Everton earned a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace in Monday night’s encounter and although the Toffees would have been disappointed at not being able to claim the victory, a point against a very good side has to be seen as a positive result at the end.
Nonetheless, manager Roberto Martinez will now want his players to get back to winning ways as soon as possible and a clash against struggling Norwich City provides the Toffees with a good opportunity to do so.
That said, no away game in the Premier League is easy and Everton will surely have to play very well in order to claim the three points on the day.
Everton Team News
Ahead of the clash, Everton have been handed a big boost with the return to fitness of Leighton Baines but it remains to be seen whether the defender will be starting this weekend ahead of Brendan Galloway.
If Galloway retains his place in the starting lineup, Martinez should go with an unchanged lineup consisting of Ramiro Funes Mori, John Stones, Seamus Coleman and Tim Howard in goal.
McCarthy a doubt for the clash due to a groin problem
James McCarthy was unable to recover in time from a groin problem during the clash against Crystal Palace and the Irishman will go through a late test to determine his fitness ahead of Saturday’s clash.
If McCarthy is ruled out once again, Tom Cleverley will be starting at the middle of the park while Gareth Barry will be his accomplice. In the attacking midfield positions, Ross Barkley looks like a certain starter while Arouna Kone and Gerard Deulofeu should also retain their place in the starting lineup.
Romelu Lukaku once again managed to get his name on the scoresheet during the clash against Palace and he is sure to wreak havoc on the Norwich backline as well.
Probable Lineups
Norwich City (Probable XI): Rudd, Wisdom, Bennett, Bassong, Olsson; Howson, Tettey, Redmond, Brady, Hoolaha; Mbokani
Everton (Probable XI): Howard; Galloway, Funes Mori, Stones, Coleman; Cleverley, Barry, Deulofeu, Barkley, Kone; Lukaku
Last Meeting
27/10/2015 Everton 1 – 1 Norwich City
11/01/2014 Everton 2 – 0 Norwich City
17/08/2013 Norwich City 2 – 2 Everton
Prediction
Despite the contrasting fortunes of the two sides in the Premier League, Norwich and Everton have played out five draws in their last seven encounters and recent history suggests that the clash on Saturday will also be a closely fought affair.
Norwich may be struggling at the moment but they do not give any team an easy ride and one can expect Everton to be troubled this weekend.
The problem for Norwich though is that they seem to lack the quality in the final third to make a real impact and with Everton boasting the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley in top form, an away victory seems to be on the cards this Saturday.
Norwich City 1 – 2 Everton
