Follow all the action live as champions-elect Liverpool take on rock-bottom Norwich City at Carrow Road.
Liverpool are already 22 points clear at the top of the Premier league table, however, Jurgen Klopp insists his side are solely focused on the task at hand ahead of the club’s Champions League last-16 tie against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.
Daniel Farke’s Norwich are seven points adrift at the bottom, having won just one of their last 12 league games, but are set to be boosted by the return of Emiliano Buendia to the starting line-up.
Follow all the action live below:
Norwich 0 – 0 Liverpool
15 mins: Robertson gets forward on the left wing and Liverpool switch the play to get it to him but he’s unable to bring the ball down and control.
Liverpool win the ball back quickly and Firmino puts the ball wide of goal.
Norwich 0 – 0 Liverpool
12 mins: Firmino gets the better of Cantwell but elects not to cross the ball into the box. He cuts it back to open up a better angle but only finds Byram when the he does pass the ball. Norwich’s defence is holding up.
Norwich 0 – 0 Liverpool
9 mins: Oxlade-Chamberlain takes a shot on goal from outside the box. The shot cuts through a wall of yellow shirts but doesn’t have the power to beat Krul who dives to his right and makes the save.
Norwich work the ball well to the edge of Liverpool’s box and then get stuck. Cantwell tries to get past Alexander-Arnold but doesn’t and the ball goes out for a goal kick.
Norwich 0 – 0 Liverpool
6 mins: Alexander-Arnold puts a cross into the box that Zimmermann meets with a diving header. The ball hits Firmino before he can react and rolls safely to Krul in goal.
Norwich 0 – 0 Liverpool
3 mins: It’s a blustery day at Carrow Road and that won’t be at all to Jurgen Klopp’s liking. Norwich have set themselves deep to defend and are looking to counter attack.
The teams are heading out onto the pitch, it’s top vs bottom with both teams wanting the three points. Daniel Farke says that this game is a free hit for Norwich with Jurgen Klopp promising that Liverpool will fight for their lives.
Who’s going to come out on top?
Norwich, Liverpool and the Premier League are all promoting the #HeadsUp campaign at Carrow Road today to talk about our mental health:
“Fabinho was injured. Now we had this week where we had no game so he is still not in rhythm – Saturday, Tuesday, all that stuff. And the other things worked really well. Naby looked really good in training; Fabinho as well actually.
“Today is the most comfortable situation I had since the beginning of the season because pretty much all first-team players apart from Shaqiri are fit, so that’s comfortable and that means we have to make the choice. That’s what I did.”
15 minutes until kick off at Carrow Road, can Norwich cause a massive upset and reignite their season?
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp isn’t taking any chances and doesn’t believe the Premier League title is Liverpool’s just yet. In the pre-match press conference he said: “People think it will be easy because they don’t really think about it and they only watch the table but we know about the problems we can have – and we know about the problems we can cause them as well.
“We have no other chance than to make this game the most important game of our lives, play it on Saturday and try with all we have to win it.”
Norwich City head coach Daniel Farke knows just how much of an uphill battle his side face today but he’s optimistic his side can perform saying: “No-one in the league has beaten [Liverpool]. They are one of the best teams in European history.
“It’s a huge task and we know that. We have our strengths and if we bring our best football on the pitch, we can get something.
“We are not naive. The Manchester City game showed when you’re good in your topics, you can win. Liverpool are the best team in the world and we need to be there with an outstanding performance.”
There’s a lot at stake in this Saturday eveing clash. Liverpool are just six wins away from lifting the Premier League trophy for the first time and they won’t want to lose any momentum.
For Norwich, they are seven points from safety and are in desperate need of three points but having not beaten Liverpool in 13 top-flight games that task is unlikely.
Liverpool are set to break a few records if they get the win today:
Victory would mean that Liverpool have the best record after 26 matches in the history of the top five European leagues.
Their 73 points from 25 matches is already a top flight record and that would be extended with a win.
They would also overtake Nottingham Forest’s run of 42 top-flight games undefeated and close the gap on Arsenal’s record of 49.
Victory in this match would mean Liverpool have the best record after 26 matches in the history of the top five European leagues
There’s a landmark in the Canaries team as well with Kenny McLean making it to 50th club appearances also:
Naby Keita returns to the Liverpool starting XI as he makes his 50th appearance for the Reds:
Norwich are in a terrible run of form. They’ve had one win in the Premier League since September, against Bournemouth on 18th January.
But the silver lining is that they’ve kept two clean sheets in their last three games having only managed the same amount in the previous 22 matches.
However ttey are the only club not to have won a Premier League point from a losing position this season so it looks like they’ll need to score first if they want to get anything out of the game.
The Champions-elect look to maintain their unbeaten run as they take on the bottom of the table. This fixture averages 4 goals per game, here’s how we see this one playing out:
Team news
Norwich name the same starting line-up that drew 0-0 with Newcastle last time out.
Sadio Mane and James Milner both make the bench as Liverpool make just one change to the starting XI. Naby Keita returns to the team in place of Fabinho.
Team news – Liverpool
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Salah, Firmino.
Subs: Adrian, Fabinho, Lovren, Milner, Mane, Lallana, Origi.
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Match preview
When is it?
The match will kick-off at 17.30 on Saturday 14 February.
How can I watch it?
Coverage begins at 17.00 on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event.
Line-ups
Norwich: Krul; Aarons, Zimmermann, Hanley, Byram, Tettey, McLean; Rupp, Duda, Cantwell, Pukki
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Salah, Firmino
Odds
Norwich 9/1
Draw 9/2
Liverpool 2/7
