Match Preview: Liverpool vs Norwich

JURGEN Klopp’s men will be gunning for the title again this season, and they have the dangerous task of opening their campaign at home against the unknown entity of a newly promoted team. Not only that, but Liverpool are coming off the back of a relatively poor preseason showing, a tiring summer of international football for some of their stars, and a penalty shootout defeat in the Community Shield last weekend.
For Norwich, the task is a mountainous one. They were excellent as they romped to the Championship top spot last season, but Friday night is the ultimate test of whether they have what it takes to compete at an higher level. It’s undoubtedly one of the most difficult fixtures on the calendar, although they could well be pleased that they’re getting it out of the way early on.
It’s difficult to know what to expect from Liverpool though. Their preseason showings have been really poor, with just 1 win from their last 5 friendlies, but we all know how little those results can matter once the first competitive whistle is blown.
Norwich, meanwhile, have won 3 of their last 5 preseason friendlies, beating Schalke, Luton, and Toulouse in between defeats to Brentford and Atalanta. Needless to say, manager Daniel Farke has stuck to his trademark attacking brand of football, seeing The Canaries score 10 goals in these 5 games.
It’s this scoring record from Norwich that is guiding our prediction for this match. They haven’t failed to score in a competitive match since their FA Cup defeat to Portsmouth in January, and away from home they found the net in all but one of their games last season.
Liverpool’s defence is undoubtedly an excellent one, but they conceded in 5 of their final 10 Premier League matches at Anfield last season, so we think the visitors have a good chance of finding the net.
PREDICTION: OVER 2.5 MATCH GOALS